# Did you ever play in a corn field when you were little? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100 "2007-06-23T04:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GuyNblueJeans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GuyNblueJeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuyNblueJeans)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/1 "2007-06-23T04:28:44Z")
I did a couple of times. Playing hide and seek was totally a blast! When you’re four or five those corn stalks are the size of small trees, or at least they seem like they are. And then you tie in how finite things at that age seem infinite (like being in a row boat on a lake and being mesmerized at how the landscape underneath disappears into a dark world of mystery) … and you’ve got the makings of great fun and wonder! 🙂 I can’t imagine how fantastic it would be to live in Nebraska, with all those giant corn fields that are like vast, green oceans. A little kid would go wild with joy to play in those beauties!! Does anyone else relate to corn fields and the fun of getting lost in them? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/2 "2007-06-23T04:37:26Z")
Cornfields, no. I did play in plum orchards filled with waist-high mustard plants, though. (San Jose, 1960’s) ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/3 "2007-06-23T04:39:49Z")
Actually… cornfields scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I kept imagining getting lost with something sneaking up behind me in that huge silent grid of rustly stalks. Probably some Children of the Corn related imagery didn’t help, either 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/4 "2007-06-23T05:13:36Z")
My grandparents owned a lot of farmland in Nebraska (Kenesaw). So when we were kids, that was where we played – it was either that, or continually have to run away from the eeeeevil peacocks the next-door farm let roam around. Nasty, evil birds. Anyway, corn fields are fun and all to play in. Until you’re old enough to help tassle the corn. Which is _not_ fun and not play, and if you’re related to the farm owners, you don’t get paid even the pittance they pay to do it. And we were related to _everybody_ that lived near my grandparents. Fortunately, we lived in Lincoln most of our younger years, so my brother and I only got shanghai’d into tassling corn during our vacation time visiting the grandparents. My cousins, who lived in the area, got to do that _all_ the time – particularly since my uncle ran some Coop grain elevators, too. Gleaning ears of popping corn from harvested fields was always a treat, though. Plus, fresh corn, all the time. Yum. Yes, the corn fields look like great seas of green – I remember everything seeming so wide-open and BIG from my childhood. You could really see the horizon there, like when you’re at sea. But it’s really the wind I remember (and miss) the most, which was even more fun after the fields had been harvested and there was nothing in the way of the wind as far as you could see. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/5 "2007-06-23T05:35:05Z")
_blink…blink_ A cornfield? Like…lots…of corn? More than the grocery store has…and in the ground? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/6 "2007-06-23T06:00:56Z")
Corn fields and the oats too. We used to make paths in the oats by crawling along and trying to sneak up on each other. My uncles didn’t like it because it laid the plants down and although they usually straightened up they didn’t always and we could knock down a lot of oats. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/7 "2007-06-23T06:27:10Z")
Corn fields were cool - a little creepy, a little snug - You could be invisible if you wanted, but others could be invisible too - hide and seek rocked! ---
**Author:** ![Zambini57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4491bb/32.png) [@Zambini57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zambini57)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/8 "2007-06-23T08:03:29Z")
Well, there could be rats in there. And you certainly don’t want to be wandering around in there if there’s a storm coming. HIS storm. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/9 "2007-06-23T08:41:27Z")
Me and my buddies ran around a cornfield new Bewdley in Worcestershire, playing chase, and generally having a good time trampling the crops. Then we were shot at by the farmer with a shotgun. (I think he shot in the air to scare us, but aged 8 it didn’t seem so.) We hit the deck and crawled a long, long way to the woods at the edge and ran away home, shitting ourselves. It was a real _Stand By Me_ moment. I never did it again - until one night when I was a drunk teen and we tried to make a crop circle. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/10 "2007-06-23T11:53:22Z")
I **sent** a few people to the cornfield, when I was a kid. Does _that_ count? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/11 "2007-06-23T14:49:14Z")
We stayed out of them. Being all itchy isn’t fun. Once they started pollonating it was even worse. You’re hot, sweaty and the leaves all rub against you, then add a coating of pollen. No thanks, we played in the woods, barn, corn crib, wagon, or other location. The corn field was the last place we’d want to play. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/12 "2007-06-23T14:52:04Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] We stayed out of them. Being all itchy isn’t fun. [/QUOTE] That just came with the territory. Soy fields were much worse, in the itchy department. We’d actually skirt _those_. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/13 "2007-06-23T15:07:59Z")
Play in the field? Nah. Though I did spend time on dirt bikes on the small dirt roads that service them. An ear of corn, if you peal back the leaves and throw it in the air is very similar to a lawn dart. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/14 "2007-06-23T15:20:37Z")
[QUOTE=Tranquilis] That just came with the territory. Soy fields were much worse, in the itchy department. We’d actually skirt _those_. [/QUOTE] Soy fields pelt you if it’s the right time of the year. We would have gotten in trouble, going in an oats field or soybean. Anything that made the field less productive was a big no no. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/15 "2007-06-23T15:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Anything that made the field less productive was a big no no. [/QUOTE] Well, that too. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/16 "2007-06-23T15:39:45Z")
No corn fields where I grew up but there were sugarcane fields right next to our school, and the experience was about the same. Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw on bit of cane. We joked about putting together a Hawaiian remake of Stephen King, “Keikis of the Cane”. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/17 "2007-06-23T15:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] We stayed out of them. Being all itchy isn’t fun. Once they started pollonating it was even worse. You’re hot, sweaty and the leaves all rub against you, then add a coating of pollen. No thanks, we played in the woods, barn, corn crib, wagon, or other location. The corn field was the last place we’d want to play. [/QUOTE] You forgot to mention the huge spiders and the corn borers. The barn and the grove behind the house were lots more fun. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/18 "2007-06-23T15:57:22Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] - until one night when I was a drunk teen and we tried to make a crop circle. [/QUOTE] So now the secret is out. **jjimm** is an alien from another planet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/19 "2007-06-23T17:19:25Z")
I wasn’t so little a few years ago when friends did a corn maze. After Halloween we had way too much beer one night and decided to take a golf cart in the maze. The cart didn’t have lights. My stomach hurt the next morning from laughing so hard. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100/20 "2007-06-23T18:37:20Z")
Oh sure, a green cornfield is great fun to run through, until you come out of the cornfield and realize you have about a thousand tiny papertcuts on your legs arms and face from the corn leaves. Some are so nasty they bubble up a little blood… not only are they painful in that subtle papercut way, they are itchy, as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-in-a-corn-field-when-you-were-little/409100.md?page=2)