They don’t make danger like they used to


Really? Climbing Trees is now considered a dangerous childhood activity? Puh-lease! My middle-aged friends and I laugh in the face of your danger, and we’ll go on record to say that they don’t make danger the way they used to…

When I was a kid, my brother and I took long car trips lying in the back of our parent’s hatchback Citation with nary a seat belt in sight. I traversed city and country roads on my bike with the wind blowing through my hair. What was a helmet anyway? I rode my horse (sans saddle at times) alone on long treks through the woods without an accompanying cell phone or curfew or even a flare.

And Gever Tulley, aka Mr. Danger, what did he do in his childhood? He recently shared his list on the 50 Dangerous Things Facebook page:

  • Hitchhiked to san francisco with a 20 year-old friend when I was 9
  • Took naps on the back of our family horse when I was 5
  • Inner-tubed 9 miles on a river with my best friend when I was 7
  • Accidentally walked between a mama bear and her cubs when I was 8
  • Fell asleep on top of a speaker at a rock concert when I was 6
  • Caught a falling baby when I was 12
  • Made bonfires on the beach with my brother when I was 4 and he was 7
  • Accidentally lit a woman’s hair on fire with a candle I was using as a sword
  • Spent countless days alone in the woods from age 6 to 18
  • Drove a Vespa motor scooter from Mendocino, CA to Taos, NM when I was 18
  • Jumped a moving train when I was 10 (and rode it for a couple of miles)
  • Made a liquid wax fountain with a soup can in a fire pit in the backyard while the parents were away at age 9 (based on instructions from my 12 year old brother)
  • Ate sandwiches made with ketchup and Nestle’s quick chocolate powder when I was 7
  • (NOTE: Anyone under the age of 95 should not attempt Mr. Tulley’s activities, except perhaps the ketchup & chocolate one.)

    So, parents and other “oldsters” out there…What dangerous things you do as a kid? (Besides walk to school five miles, one way, uphill and in blinding snowstorms, of course.) Please share in the comments (click “Comments” up by the article title), and we’ll compare notes, perhaps nod our heads in agreement, and maybe giggle a little, too.

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