# Things you wanted like crazy as a kid but do not care about as an adult **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977 "2009-03-19T02:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/21 "2009-03-19T20:42:28Z")
A cool job. As a kid, I thought the coolest jobs were: - Guy who drives the asphalt paver. - Garbage man. (Because you got to ride on the back of the truck.) As an adult, I’ve figured out that hot, smelly jobs really aren’t all that great. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/22 "2009-03-19T21:20:39Z")
A purple Corvette or a threeway with Ginger and Ellie May, depending on what day you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![mariposalabrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@mariposalabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mariposalabrown)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/23 "2009-03-19T21:41:16Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > A trip to Disney World. I was completely obsessed with the idea of going to Disney World. I knew all the rides, would fantasize about meeting the characters, and thought that Epcot Center looked like the coolest thing on the planet. I would have killed to go. > > Now, meh. It seems like an overpriced vacation. I’d rather go someplace else with our limited vacation time. I just want to say that my boyfriend and I went last year, and while it is very overpriced, it was worth every penny, and so so much fun. If you have any kids, I wouldn’t go until they are old enough to walk all day though. We don’t have any and were able to speed through there and ride every single ride without anything slowing us down no problem. I always wanted a white rabbit fur coat. Now they make me cry and I am so saddened for the rabbits, and I am allergic to them. I love my fake fur coat, though! ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/24 "2009-03-19T21:44:40Z")
A Darth Vader head on my tombstone. I thought that would be the ultimate in cool. I have no idea why. Oh, and fourteen kids of my own! They were going to be named Christopher, Walter, Philip, Charlotte, Gertrude, Judith, Charlie, Audrey, Independence, Geraldine, and I forget about the other four. How could I have forgotten the fourteen kids? ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/25 "2009-03-19T22:38:40Z")
Michael Jackson L.A. Gear sneakers. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/26 "2009-03-19T22:59:45Z")
**An Arky** ’s post reminded me: A _Trans Am_. In particular a 1979 metallic blue pontiac Trans Am with the huge engine and t-bar roofs - and an 8-track player. Big blue screaming eagle on the hood. My brother had one and I coveted it so bad. I actually looked at a similar one that was an 81 or 82 last year, just for nostalgia. But I just don’t want one anymore and even at only 15K it just wasn’t worth it, even for nostalgia. (Although I admit that when I got in it I felt like a kid again.) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/27 "2009-03-20T05:55:23Z")
A horse. I’m never going to get one now, either, am I? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/28 "2009-03-20T10:39:36Z")
Huge cliche, but when I was a little girl I would have done anything for a horse. Funny thing is, I was quite the tomboy and didn’t have any interest in other girly things but no, I was going to have a horse and braid flowers into her hair and call her Tinkerbell or some such. Actually, the horse to my mind was just a substitute for a unicorn (which would have been much cooler, but unfortunately didn’t exist). In the end I predictably got neither, and I don’t care anymore 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/29 "2009-03-20T10:48:12Z")
A Triumph TR7 (The Shape of Things to Come) A moped (during those years when I was legally allowed to ride one but too young for a car) As was stated upthread: a metal detector. I still think it would be pretty cool but I don’t really have a need for it. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/30 "2009-03-20T11:19:45Z")
Meg Ryan. Oh wait- I was 40. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/31 "2009-03-20T14:33:45Z")
Visual porn, i.e. skin magazines and videos. By the time I was old enough _and_ independent enough to buy my own without being embarrassed about it, I’d had enough actual sex that stereotyped visuals of unnaturally perfect, artificially enhanced, absurdly over-endowed strangers wasn’t that interesting. Then I discovered erotica, where the best part is in my head, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/32 "2009-03-20T14:34:13Z")
> [@](#): > > For me it is computers. When I was a teenager I always had computers that were several generations old. No money to buy anything better. I couldn’t play the latest games and was very jealous of my friends that had better machines. When I was a kid we didn’t HAVE home or personal computers! (waving cane) All computers were business computers, and they took up ROOMS. Seriously. And the programs were written on paper tapes, which had holes punched in them. Yeah, I still wanted a computer, but they didn’t have games for them back in MY day. Or they didn’t have games that I knew of. Computers for the average person and arcade videogames were just starting out when I graduated from high school. I remember seeing Pac Man and wondering what the hell it was. I received a calculator for my 18th birthday, and I was absolutely fascinated with it. My parents finally got a computer, one of the first home models, after I had married and moved out. I was PISSED. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/33 "2009-03-20T19:16:37Z")
When I [was a teenager](http://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/screengrab/2008/02/01-07/island_kilmer.jpg), I wanted Val Kilmer. [Now](http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_03/valkilmer2X17_468x376.jpg), not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/34 "2009-03-20T19:38:55Z")
A live parrot that would sit on my shoulder when I walked around. I thought that was the coolest thing ever when I was five. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/35 "2009-03-20T20:02:12Z")
Sea Monkeys. I had no idea they were a total scam. The ads made them look like the coolest thing ever! When I was in the 6th grade I wanted a parakeet like nothing else. There was a pet store a few blocks from home and I would go and just stare at the parakeets. I bought books about parakeets. My parents, thankfully, said no. I HATE birds now–they are messy and smelly and you have to clean poop constantly–no thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/36 "2009-03-21T06:21:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > No, I don’t think it’s so deep. When you’re a kid you do truly, madly, deeply want all the candy imaginable. But as we age our tastes change. Yeah, I really think so. When I was a kid, I loved deviled ham in a can, and could hardly wait to grow up so I could buy and eat all of that stuff I wanted. Nowadays, I wonder if they’ve changed the recipe or ingredients, or if my tastes have changed. Similarly, fast food just doesn’t taste good to me any more. Nowadays…blech. I can’t stand most fast food burgers and other offerings. Not even the fries are very good. Most mainstream candy is just not that tasty to me now. I’ve bought various candy bars, drooling in anticipation, and I can tell that they’re fresh, but they just don’t taste like they did. I have come to appreciate the premium chocolate, especially the dark chocolate. I still love chocolate milk, though. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/37 "2009-03-21T10:28:26Z")
> [@wunderkammer](#): > > (Although let’s see someone make a sweater out of a horse!) You can make a [jacket](http://www.flightsuits.com/leather_a2_hist_horse.html) out of one. ---
**Author:** ![czarcaztic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@czarcaztic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/czarcaztic)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/38 "2009-03-21T15:36:07Z")
> [@mariposalabrown](#): > > =If you have any kids, I wouldn’t go until they are old enough to walk all day though. I’m 57 years old, and I’m beginning to think I’ll **NEVER** reach this milestone. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/39 "2009-03-22T00:20:07Z")
I just remember one: We were at a place that sold things specifically for cub scouts. I think we might have been getting a pinewood derby kit. Anyway, on the way out someone was giving a demo of a mechanical bank. Put a quarter in a dog dish, a dog came out of his doghouse, grabbed it and took it back in. I thought that was the coolest thing. I wanted one so bad. I’ve looked at getting a mechanical bank more than once, but in the end never really care enough to buy one. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977/40 "2009-03-22T03:36:50Z")
A clapper- you know, clap on, clap off, etc. Yes, I was a weird child. It’s not a thing, but I really wanted to take Martial Arts classes. My mom was afraid I’d get hurt though. I did end up taking a Kung Fu class in college, but didn’t care enough to stick with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wanted-like-crazy-as-a-kid-but-do-not-care-about-as-an-adult/489977.md?page=3)