Male, b. 1962, graduated HS in 1980
- What kind of electronics did you grow up with at home?
We had a single, console color television for most of my childhood. I think my parents got their own small television when I was a teenager. We never had a VCR while I lived at home, and of course DVDs had not even been thought of yet. I don’t think that we even had an answering machine. Personal computers were not really available. We did have a stereo, which consisted of a tuner, turntable, a couple of speakers and a tape deck. Later I had a low budget version in my room. I’m sure we had an 8-track player at some point. We also had an Atari video game with really horrible games, like Pong and maybe some sort of Tank Battle and very cheesy “Jungle Adventure”.
- Did you eat meals together as a family? How often? If not, why not?
Most often it was my mother and us kids. It was not very good, but if my father was home to cook sometimes the food would be decent. I was very thin until I graduated from high school, mainly because I didn’t like my mother’s cooking.
- Is the house that you live in now larger than the house you grew up in?
No, it’s about 1,000 square feet smaller than the house my parents still live in. It’s probably smaller than the house before that and about the same size as the house before that. It’s larger than the previous houses. We lived in a lot of different places.
- How many people lived in the home you grew up in? Did you share a room or bathroom with a sibling? If so, until what age? Did you ever share a room with another family member?
Eventually two parents and five kids, with occasional pets thrown into the mix, mostly cats. I always had to share a room until I finally moved out. Sometimes with two brothers; when I was older just one. All three boys always shared one bathroom.
- What sorts of activities did you do together as a family?
Mostly outdoor things, like camping or going to the beach or a park. Sometimes we’d go to a drive-in movie in the family station wagon.
- What sorts of activities did you do with other children, including your siblings?
We played lots of sports pick up games: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, street hockey, kickball, and variations on those themes (500, HORSE, etc). Lots of
bike riding, skateboarding, and basically testing our bones for the breaking point. Exploring the woods.
- Did you have a job while a teenager (in school)? What kind of job? How much did you make? What did you spend it on?
I had a ton of different jobs as a teen. Anything to make money, including collecting returnable bottles, buying and selling contraband (like chewing gum), hustling younger kids at stuff like pitching quarters, cutting yards, babysitting, doing odd jobs. As I got older I worked as a dishwasher at a 24 hour restaurant, including graveyard shift on the weekends. I never really worked in a fastfood restaurant, though.
- Did you own and/or drive a car while you were in high school (age 18 or under, for non USA Dopers)?
I bought my first car after high school. In school, when I was lucky, I could borrow one of my parent’s cars. Often I bummed rides from friends.
- Where did you go shopping? What did you buy there?
The local mall (no longer there), mostly. There weren’t nearly as many shopping options at the time. I spent most of my money on clothes, going out with my friends, and records, I guess.
- What did you wear to school? What was fashionable?
The ever popular jeans and t-shirt. Sometimes shirts with collars. “Designer jeans” were just becoming popular, but mainly for girls. Our hairstyles were very late 70s and fairly embarassing.
- What kind of music was popular? What was the first popular song you could sing? What devices did you use to listen to music?
You either listened to classic disco or the last days of hard rock (Aerosmith, Zeppelin, etc). I was much more about the latter.
- Did you date? Where did you or others go for dates?
I did date, but my options were somewhat limited since I didn’t have my own car. I could only get out if I could borrow a car. Sometimes you’d go to parties and meet up there, or out to Friday night football games with a whole bunch of people.
- How old were you when you were first left home alone? How far away from home could you go and not tell your parents about it? Did you have a “stay at home” parent? If so, which one?
I seem to remember that the whole brood, about four of us at the time, were left home when the oldest of us was 10 or so. I was the second oldest. I may be incorrect on that. I’d go miles away at a very young age, about 8 years old, without telling anyone where I was going. My mom didn’t work when I was a kid, but eventually did probably about the time most of us were out of school.
- What’s your highest level of post secondary education? Same for mother and/or father?
BS degree. My mother never attended anything more than high school. My father dropped out of college.
)
Are you talking about garments?