Those wild baby boomers (moving, cousins, respect, years)

[nancy thereader]

I started college in 1965. That year , our dormitory in Wisconsin still had "hours" for the girls. We had to be in by a certain time and we had a house-mother . By the time I graduated in 1970 ( I took my time....) , the dorms were co-ed , sold beer and do I have to even say what was going on ? What a strange time to be young and to be in school. I can not imagine there being another five years that the whole society was so altered so rapidly .

[mrschilicook]

Well, I have either chosen to forget some of the more memorable moments or they are sort of "smoky" memories. I grew up south of San Fransisco and was in my late teens during the hey-days of the hippie generation. Didn't go to college until I was an adult so I didn't get to experience the bra-burning, purple haze thing...but we did benefit from the fringe events.

[Yeledaf]

I once got so hammered on Southern Comfort at a drive-in movie (this would have been around 1969) that when I tired to prime the carburetor of the 1955 Chevy pickup I was driving at that time by pouring a half-cup of raw gas into it, having removed the air cleaner, I dropped the match I was holding so that I could see in the darkness onto the gas, which then spilled and spread all over the engine and toward the gas tank, and burst into roaring flames.

There was a married couple and their baby in the bed of the truck, which I had backed into the parking place at the drive in so that we could watch the movie from mattresses piled in the bed, and as the flames shot up under the truck I saw myself, even in my drunken state, on trial for the horrible death by fire of a young couple and their infant.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a crew-cut fellow with a huge fire extinguished appeared, put out the fire in what seemed like a matter of seconds, and disappeared.

Shaken, I surveyed the scorched hood and engine of my pathetic truck. It looked ruined, but I was so happy that no one had died that I hardly cared. Just for the hell of it, I climbed into the cab, inserted the key, and pushed the starter button. The sunofabitch roared into life.

This story typifies the Sixties to me: stupidity followed by blind luck. I have a sneaking suspicion that it describes a lotof the "successes" we Boomers have enjoyed...

[nancy thereader]

....and thank God that our episodes were never on You-Tube ala Paris Hilton.

[Yeledaf]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

....and thank God that our episodes were never on You-Tube ala Paris Hilton.

Isn't that the truth. I almost never wore underwear.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by Bideshi

...My '60s "flashbacks" involve "colorful" mortar and rocket attacks and getting generously hosed down with Agent Orange...The Summer of Love must have been great fun.

The only reason it was an "either/or" experience is because you made it that way.

I was also in Vietnam and saw the incoming fireworks and was a recipient of Agent Orange, but when I came back into the World, I used my GI Bill and went back to school. Then my clothes got colorful, my hair grew long, I tripped on acid, smoked a lot of weed, got a couple of degrees, lived in a VW van, met a girl (who I am still with), and generally had a pretty good time.

My six years in the military and my tour in Vietnam was just as valuable in defining who I became as were my Hippy days. I am glad I had both experiences.

[TexasHorseLady]

Anyone remember anything wild or shocking they did in the 60's or 70's?

Well, I was there, so . . . no.

Except lots of music. LOTS of music. Jefferson Airplane, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Cream (2nd row, right in front of the speakers - I dated a drummer then), the Doors, and lots of others. And painting my face with vines and flowers. And the clothes I wore. (We had to buy our jeans in the boy's department because they didn't make jeans for girls then.) The invention of pantyhose - and exactly why they had to be invented. And many things that I am NOT going to post here!

[Tesaje]

It was all around me, but I guess I'm just too level headed. I really didn't inhale. I didn't like it and it made me gag. I went to school, I worked, I learned. I also learned that I could learn from other's mistakes and I didn't have to make them myself. I did go on a 2 month long bicycle tour that was a great adventure.

[susancruzs]

I didn't buy underwear until I was well into my 30's and we wore those short skirts! Geesh! I never got into the "stuff" my friends did, couldn't handle it.

I was a sickly child with alot of bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia so just the thought of smoke was not a good thing plus my older sister had TB was in a hospital for a year that scared me. Aside from the way I dressed, acting wild, drinking, I was actually tame compared to some people I knew.

[ArkLexee]

Ya'll are putting me to shame. My sixties were pretty tame by comparison probably because it was a struggle just to survive my homelife. Hobbs, NM wasn't exactly a jumpin' place to live back then. If it hadn't been for the MUSIC....life would have been totally without purpose

I do remember being out with a group of kids on one particular weekend in '66...when all the guys were determined to ride pumpjacks....in a less-than-sober state. I ended up having to drive my fella home because he was too sick to even get behind the wheel...and challenged another car to a race at a red light. I had learned to drive on my grandaddy's old Ford pick-up in junior high school so I was by no means a novice and I beat him quite badly. Luckily, I turned off of Dal Paso onto a side street just as a cop took off after the other guy. I was an innocent back then....I really was.