Dumb Things You Did In Your Youth

I don’t know why but another post, Aspen Apple Soda, inspired me to write this thread.  Maybe this time of year; brought back memories?
 
There was a time when we didn’t have instant gratification via the new technology age.  You just went by your own devices, imagination and hope for the best or worst; hoping the folks wouldn’t find out.
 
Here are just some of my “stupid” lessons I learned as a teen to entertain myself and my friends to occupy our free summertime.  I would love to hear input from you guys as well.
 

• My friend and I thought it would be fun to smoke cigarettes.  Between the two of us, we had the bright idea to literally pull grass from our backyards (keep in mind we lived in the suburbs and our fathers had to maintain beautiful green lawns (probably saturated in some non-organic fertilizer at the time).  We then rolled the grass in legal paper (from our dads notebooks; goodness knows what dyes were in that yellow hue at the time).  We lit our home made smokes.  Needless to say, we were literally green.  Sicker than dogs. 

 

• Back in the early 80s, Lee Press On Nails were all the rage.  We would cut out long fingernail shapes out of regular notebook paper.  Then, we would saturate them with Elmer’s glue and press them on our natural finger nails and let the glue harden them and adhere to our real nails.  After they were somewhat hard, we would apply nail polish to color them.  I’m sure our mothers were pissed when their expensive nail polish products had a weird texture to them after that.  We thought our nails looked so cool.  Kind of like “beer goggles”; if you put your hand out far enough and squinted your eyes enough, they looked like beautiful nails.  How very wrong.  They were gross, disgusting shriveled up pieces of glue soaked paper.  Gagh, how naïve.  Good times though.

 
 

• I purchased a Two Live Crew album (very controversial at the time, even by today’s standards pretty lewd and crude).  I thought I was cool.  So, even cooler yet, I got the bright idea to move my record player to my bay window seat and point the speakers out my bedroom window.  I thought I would impress some of the boys on my cul-de-sac and began playing the album full blast.  Within minutes my bedroom door flew open.  There was my father, redder than a beat.  He promptly grabbed the record player and literally yanked the plug out of the wall with the force in which he grabbed the stereo.  He screamed that there would be none of that (bleeping, bleep, and bleep) music played in his house.  EVER!  To this day, I will never forget that.  I had never seen my Dad so mad.  In retrospect, if I had kids today (which I don’t), I would do the same thing.  Needless to say, my musical tastes are much more refined.  Come to think of it, I really didn’t like the band Two Live Crew.  I just bought it for the shock value.  It had all those parental warning stickers all over it but you could still buy it.  The more stickers, the more you were tempted.

 
 
 
 
 
 

I never did anything dumb in my youth. And since the little fire at the hall of records you can check with the New Haven police.

My Mom had a flowershop that also sold balloons. My brother and I got it into our heads that if we put a little squirt of gasoline in a balloon, filled it with helium, tied a cotton string to it, lit it and let it go we'd have cool homemade fireworks.  Absolutely worked like a charm.  Fire burned up the string, melted the rubber and Ba-WOOM!  gas fume explosion. 
 
What our pre-teen minds failed to think through was that gas soaked burning rubber falls somewhere.  With a rush of fear and adrenaline we stomped out what could have been a really bad grass fire in the neighbors dry hay field.

When I was six, my best friend Eileen Kelley and I had just seen Mary Poppins in the local theater. Eileen thought it would be a good idea to jump off of her parents garage roof with an umbrella because she would surely float to the ground. I didn't think it was too good of an idea but agreed to hold her parents old wooden ladder for her. Needless to say she didn't float but thank heavens she didn't break anything. We both ended up with some of the worse splinters all over the palms of our hands!

Stuck my finger in an empty light socket to see if anything would happen, something happened!

I got married.
 
Photto

wow, to many to mention.

When I was 12 or 13, I chewed a half a can of tobacco on a 10 block walk, I remember remarking at how I could do it and not get sick. When I got home, I technicolor yawned all over my bedroom. Literally. Never touched it again.

I laughed my a## off thinking of the stupid things I did.Very innocent( mostly) but stupid. One thing stands out-I never knew how my Mom defrosted stuff. One day, I decided I wanted Cool Whip on something.So, I turned on one of the electric burners on the stove, and set the container on the burner. I was 12. Nevertheless to say, THAT was a disaster.Dad walked in 5 hours later, and said"What the hell, Annie?" He then proceeded to make himself his daily Scotch.

Thanks for sharing all your stories.  Very amusing.
 
Seamus:  I did a similar thing but with 4 Almond Joy candy bars.  Can't even look at them in the store to this day. 

The dumbest thing I ever did as a kid was at 15  to go on a motorcycle ride with Bobby W.  I was really excited to ride with him, he was 2 years old & so cute.  This motercycle did not have a cover over the tailpipe & as I got off I touched the inside of my knee on the pipe.  Wow, I ended up with a big blister & 49 years later I still have a scar.  By the way, things did not work out for Bobby & me.

I married my EX.

You know those little battery-powered weed trimmers with the oscillating W-shaped blades. Don't use those when you are 5 years old. Had many stiches. Almost lost a finger.

Wow, not one thing involving smoking mass quantities of herb and food.

claracamille


The dumbest thing I ever did as a kid was at 15  to go on a motorcycle ride with Bobby W.  I was really excited to ride with him, he was 2 years old & so cute.  This motercycle did not have a cover over the tailpipe & as I got off I touched the inside of my knee on the pipe.  Wow, I ended up with a big blister & 49 years later I still have a scar.  By the way, things did not work out for Bobby & me.

 
I can see why, given that you were 13 years older than him.
 
Brad

I knew she meant 2 yrs. older.  I had a similar experience.

Oh my goodness kasdeta - you triggered another memory.
 
I have two younger sisters; one of which is a bit less than 2 years younger.  Her hair took forever to grow long.  She was about 2 years old.  My parents had their backs turned.  I spied some "pinking shears" and proceeded to give her a haircut.  I still have the photo to this day; actually she has it posted on her FaceBook page and I downloaded it.  I have a hard copy on my fridge now.  In retrospect, we think it is funny now.  My mother used to always say people always told her about my little sister,  "What a cute little boy", even when she had a dress on.  Anyway, a good story but I still feel bad to this day.
 
If anyone is interested, I can post the picture so you get the effect.
 
 

That third wife!

I stuck a toy tin fork in an electrical socket, that was in the mid 50's and they probably don't even make metal sets like those anymore, with good reason.
 
I was about 13 and decided it was time to start shaving my legs, and took a huge chunk out of my leg with my Dad's razor.  To this day I can vividly recall how white the gash looked at first, the blood and pain that came later.  
 
 

In reviewing a couple of leg injury stories here, I am reminded of another dumb story.
 
I had a great day at school, it was a Friday.  I had worn my newly purchased pair of "cool" overalls that I had saved for after several babysitting gigs.  I arrived at home and discovered the house was locked.  My mom was a stay at home mother but for occasions like these she gave me a house key.  Well, I was already in trouble for forgetting it one too many times.  My best friend had a spare key but she wasn't home either.  I knew I would be in trouble for forgetting the damn key (or losing it for that matter). 
 
So, I got the bright idea to scale the "in progress" lattice wooden patio my dad was building for our back patio and entering the house through my little sister's window, which I knew would be unlocked.  So far so good until one of the 2x4s moved against my weight.  I lost my footing.  My new overalls hooked on an exposed nail, ripping my new overalls and a huge gash in my leg.  I still have the damn scar to prove it.
 
Needless to say, I was busted on all counts.  Ruined my stupid overalls, Dad's porch, pissed my mother off; she was out getting last minute things for a party she was throwing for my dad's coworkers.  He wasn't too pleased about how I screwed up his porch project.  He had to explain his silly daughter messed that up.  A small disaster. 
 
Anyway,  memories.  :)

OK.can't resist this one (but will only Tell ONE!)
 
Buddy and I on Cape Cod where we grew up.My old VW bug, his Karman Ghia (same thing).We'd see who could get furthest up the sand dunes without getting stuck or rolling over!.......Somehow we lived to tell the tale.  And then there was the buddy who drove his 4X4 out on the far beach to neck with his girlfriend.when the tide came in and the water started leaking through the bottom of the door, he "waddled" for help and got another friend (whose dad owned a car dealership/autobody) to come and Hook a long, long cable onto the 4X4 and pul it out - hardly the worse for wear!

SeamusD
When I was 12 or 13, I chewed a half a can of tobacco on a 10 block walk, I remember remarking at how I could do it and not get sick. When I got home, I technicolor yawned all over my bedroom. Literally. Never touched it again.

 
lmao !....when i was around 15 or 16 i got drunk as a skunk at a friends house, walked home and made it past the parents without them noticing anything....
i crashed and a few hours later(middle of the night) i woke up and was hungry.... so i ate half a jar of pickles and a package of cream cheese, lol
 
it took about 5 minutes and i was running back into the kitchen(bathroom was at parents end of house) trying to make it to the sink.... i didnt make it, and i spewed all over the kitchen walls, counter tops, sink, stove, you name it....... i was still drunk, and not thinking clearly of course, so i snuck off back to bed thinking it was all a bad dream......
i woke up about 10 or so the next day and mom was fuming!...all she would say is "your father is pissed about the kitchen" in a near hysterical voice..... neither one of them would talk to me for the rest of the weekend, which of course i staid home, lol
 
oohh, it took a week of cleaning for the smell to be totally gone(it was behind, under, and in between everything..... every time dad walked into the kitchen it was muffled grumbles followed by a smack in the back of the head