what was some of the dumbest stuff you did as a kid

[coiltekjohn]

Every house was heated by coal fires where I lived in the 1940s. Coal was delivered in hundredweight sacks round the streets by coalmen driving horse drawn carts.

Whenever one of these rumbled by, a few of us kids would creep up behind it, hang on at the back, and try to see how far we could get before the coalman spotted us and chased us away. We were always too quick for him and ran off to a safe distance laughing and boasting about who held on longest.

When the coalman called at our house, Mom would pay him for one or two bags, or whatever she could afford, and then he would get the bags off the cart and tip the contents down our coal-hole into our cellar.

Every house in our street had a cellar. The coal-hole was a round hole in the tiled path near each front door. It was about 12 inches across and had a simple lift-up cast iron cover. Underneath was a short chute down to the pile of coal. When we needed coal for the fire, Dad would go down the cellar steps from under the stairs inside the house with a bucket and shovel to get it from the pile. As you could imagine, the cellar was filthy with coal dust. That didn't stop me sometimes opening the coal-hole from outside to squeeze through and drop down the chute into the cellar if I needed to sneak into the house!

 

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[Tpmetal]

Too many dumb things to list, so I'll go with a favorite. One year our scout troop went to a new camp closer to population. So naturally it was filled up with weekend warrior suburbia types. My brother, friend, and I were always getting into trouble; and as luck would have it we encountered one of the dullest camp counselors the place had. He was cooking with a large pot of boiling oil over an open fire. Us kids, probably in the 10-13 age range, saw the oil boil over and go up in flames. We also saw the counselor start to panic. All 3 of us looked at each other and with out a word, we knew we were gonna mess with this guy good. So we start yelling "take off the lid, you gotta take off the lid!!!" That dummy proceeded to knock the lid off with a stick, and then things got really interesting. Flames shot up about 10 or 15 feet in the air, and this guy starts really loosing his marbles at this point. We then Proceed to point to a 5 gallon bucket of water, thats kept near the fire pits incase of a fire, and start yelling at him to throw water on it to put it out. Now if your not familiar with oil fires, this was a very poor choice on his part. We step back as he runs towards the fire with the water, knowing whats coming the whole time. The counselor throws the water directly on the pot of oil, and all hell breaks loose. The fire explodes in a ball of flame shooting burning oil everywhere, as well as lighting up most of the grass around it. At this point all three of us are laughing our butts off hysterically as counselors come running from all directions to put the fire out. The next day when packing up to leave camp, our troop was asked that we don't come back again.

This was one of the more tame stories, we were little hell-raisers.... Its amazing how quick things can get out of hand

 

[GB1]

man ya'll were cruel

 

[Molewacker]

After several successful drops down the 1st floor laundry chute (pile of cushions et al in basement) I decided to do the 2nd floor chute. Narrowed out between 2nd and 1st floor so got stuck. Great Grandma called fire department which had a good laugh as they pulled me out. Grounded!

 

[chub]

didnt we have this thread last year?

chub

 

[Peyton Manning]

14 almost 15

wowzer, wish I was 15 again ( wish I could remember being 15 again)

 

[Rodbuster209]

When growing up we rarely swam in a swimming pool, it was usually in local rivers, lakes and canals, the most popular was jumping off of the train trestle into the river, a couple times trains would stop on top of the trestle so we would climb up and jump off of those also. Along with other stuff, B.B. gun fights, doorbell ditch, throwing eggs at police cars knowing if they caught you, you were guaranteed to get lumped up. The good old days.

 

[worldtalker]

I stole some M-80's from my brother,lit one with a sparkler and didn't throw it fast enough..landed me in the hospital for 5 days with blown off finger tips,worst part was it was the FIRST day of summer vacation and couldn't go swimming for a month and a half.

Never stole any more M-80's.

GOD Bless

Chris

 

[SD51]

The dumb things I did as a kid always happened when I said, Yes to my older brother's ideas. My brother got a bow and arrow set for his birthday and the first thing he says to me is, Should I see how high I can shoot an arrow? I said yes so he launches one and we lose sight of it. I start to run away and the arrow comes down and bounces off of my spine!

 

[GB1]

ouch

 

[RGINN]

One thing that has exceeded the statute of limitations, when I was 5 I stole a horse. At my grandparents house there was a feedlot nearby and I saw a saddled horse just standing out there by the fence, nobody around. I went up, checked the shoes, took the reins and led it back to grandpa's house and tied it up, cause if nobody wanted it I could use it. Some time later the owner showed up and he was irate. Grandpa wasn't pleased cause he was born in the 1800's and I got a big lecture about how it was lucky I didn't get hanged, and I'd better real quick get off that outlaw road and get right with Jesus pretty quick. (Grandpa Ginn had some dubious times in his teen years in the Indian Nations, but boy howdy he got religion in the later years. I ain't took nothin without permission ever since.)

 

[nomad 11]

how old are you goldboy?

i'm 85 gonna be 90 soon if anybody cares ?

 

[nomad 11]

Too many dumb things to list, so I'll go with a favorite. One year our scout troop went to a new camp closer to population. So naturally it was filled up with weekend warrior suburbia types. My brother, friend, and I were always getting into trouble; and as luck would have it we encountered one of the dullest camp counselors the place had. He was cooking with a large pot of boiling oil over an open fire. Us kids, probably in the 10-13 age range, saw the oil boil over and go up in flames. We also saw the counselor start to panic. All 3 of us looked at each other and with out a word, we knew we were gonna mess with this guy good. So we start yelling "take off the lid, you gotta take off the lid!!!" That dummy proceeded to knock the lid off with a stick, and then things got really interesting. Flames shot up about 10 or 15 feet in the air, and this guy starts really loosing his marbles at this point. We then Proceed to point to a 5 gallon bucket of water, thats kept near the fire pits incase of a fire, and start yelling at him to throw water on it to put it out. Now if your not familiar with oil fires, this was a very poor choice on his part. We step back as he runs towards the fire with the water, knowing whats coming the whole time. The counselor throws the water directly on the pot of oil, and all hell breaks loose. The fire explodes in a ball of flame shooting burning oil everywhere, as well as lighting up most of the grass around it. At this point all three of us are laughing our butts off hysterically as counselors come running from all directions to put the fire out. The next day when packing up to leave camp, our troop was asked that we don't come back again.

This was one of the more tame stories, we were little hell-raisers.... Its amazing how quick things can get out of hand

let me guess ? i bet none of you ever,ever,ever received a boy scout badge or a commendation ? my imagination is running wild with the kind of things you did if this was one of your timid stories ? so did you eventually adapt to the boy scout way and become good citizens ?

 

[bowwinkles]

Probably the dumbest thing I did when I was a kid was I allowed myself to pay far more attention to a little brown fuzzy thing more than I did school studies.

 

[Tpmetal]

let me guess ? i bet none of you ever,ever,ever received a boy scout badge or a commendation ? my imagination is running wild with the kind of things you did if this was one of your timid stories ? so did you eventually adapt to the boy scout way and become good citizens ?

I made it to life scout (the last step before eagle) before sports kinda took over, my brother made eagle though. I can't remember if my friend did or not, being seeing how he is in prison at the moment I will assume not. Also scouts never really taught me anything I didn't know or wasn't already taught by my father. Its basically nothing like it was back in the day, and didn't have anything to offer besides being able to write it on a resume. I am now a mostly functioning member of society, and converted to a good citizen for the most part. Took some trial and error, and mostly my daughter to bring me around.

 

[releventchair]

let me guess ? i bet none of you ever,ever,ever received a boy scout badge or a commendation ? my imagination is running wild with the kind of things you did if this was one of your timid stories ? so did you eventually adapt to the boy scout way and become good citizens ?

Sure I had badges...
But we ain' t got no badges. We don't need no badges ,


At scout camp we were told to stay out of the bay that was out of sight of the lifeguard.
So.....a few of us would take canoes into the bay and then portage to another nearby lake.
Don't recall ever getting caught.

 

[Oddjob]

road kill cat in the microwave set for 20 minutes. Grand father and I thought that was pretty funny, parents not so much.

Early 80s one of our south Texas border ranches was quarantined for Anthrax. Feds had come in to do as they do with destroying livestock, and decontamination. Grand father said it would be real funny if I would just take off running and make them chase me. Those people did not find that funny at all, did not know exactly how serious that was until later in life.

hiding the Ag teachers gun.

Got my cousin once to hold the rings from my old telephone crank handle box I used to fish with. Later he convinced me that we should make pikes and try to jump out of trees to pike wild bore or deer, only took one jump for me.

Jumped off the barn with a sheet, waited until I joined the Army before I tried the whole parachute thing again after that one.

Used .22 live rounds as a fuse in an old farm truck; very bad idea.

Lot of other stuff that was dump, certainly not legal these days. Pretty sure my generation is a vast contributor to some of those laws today that you hear about and think why would they have to make that a law, its common sense.

Bad part, I had actually waited until after I retired out of the Army to have kids of my own. I can not talk them into doing dumb stuff, heck I would do it with them, even go first like my grand father used. Nope, these days kids have no sense of adventure, its the play safe generation.

 

[Tpmetal]

road kill cat in the microwave set for 20 minutes. Grand father and I thought that was pretty funny, parents not so much.

Early 80s one of our south Texas border ranches was quarantined for Anthrax. Feds had come in to do as they do with destroying livestock, and decontamination. Grand father said it would be real funny if I would just take off running and make them chase me. Those people did not find that funny at all, did not know exactly how serious that was until later in life.

hiding the Ag teachers gun.

Got my cousin once to hold the rings from my old telephone crank handle box I used to fish with. Later he convinced me that we should make pikes and try to jump out of trees to pike wild bore or deer, only took one jump for me.

Jumped off the barn with a sheet, waited until I joined the Army before I tried the whole parachute thing again after that one.

Used .22 live rounds as a fuse in an old farm truck; very bad idea.

Lot of other stuff that was dump, certainly not legal these days. Pretty sure my generation is a vast contributor to some of those laws today that you hear about and think why would they have to make that a law, its common sense.

Bad part, I had actually waited until after I retired out of the Army to have kids of my own. I can not talk them into doing dumb stuff, heck I would do it with them, even go first like my grand father used. Nope, these days kids have no sense of adventure, its the play safe generation.

now heres a man that knows how to have fun. I had a friend once who did some fun stuff with the cops and their helicopter used for searching for weed plants. He waited till they came over the trees of his land and took off with a camouflage tarp flapping over his head across the field and into the woods. The circled and circled and pretty soon lots of cop cars showed up. They sure didn't find it as funny as we did.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Did many, one was we made a dummy with jeans and long sleeve shirt on it, tied it to a rope and hung from a tree with limbs over a 2 lane road. Car comes down the road at night, swing the dummy out, car hits it then pull the dummy up in the tree out of sight as the driver gets out looking for person they thought they hit.

 

[Tpmetal]

Did many, one was we made a dummy with jeans and long sleeve shirt on it, tied it to a rope and hung from a tree with limbs over a 2 lane road. Car comes down the road at night, swing the dummy out, car hits it then pull the dummy up in the tree out of sight as the driver gets out looking for person they thought they hit.

BRUTAL hahahaha. Good way to just f over someones mind right there.