Recently, Redditoru/ChillwithRonasked ther/AskOldPeoplecommunity to share the things they did as kids that would beconsidered “horrifying"today.

Here’s what older adults had to say.

“I played with my friends on construction sites after the workers were gone.

A snake swimming on a reflective water surface with its head raised. The background is blurred, giving the image a peaceful, serene atmosphere

From the ages of eight to 10, they built a bunch of new homes in my neighborhood.

We had so much fun playing in people’s houses when they were just wooden frames!”

u/Chanandler_Bong_01

2.

Fireworks spark and light up near a road at night, with buildings visible in the background

“There was a swimming hole near our Alabama home in a creek.

We would then swim there.

Wild, I know.”

A young person riding a bicycle is tossing a newspaper in front of a house

I knew how to completely unload Japanese and American hand grenades, knee mortars, and shells below 40mm.

I was 11.”

u/fgsgeneg

4.

A young child walks down a sidewalk with a purple backpack and a lunchbox. Trees line the path on a sunny day with other kids and cars in the background

“We made homemade fireworks…”

5.

“Tricks off the high dive at the local swimming pool.

These days, public pools don’t even have diving boards, let alone high dives.”

A freight train moving on tracks in an open landscape under a cloudy sky

u/porkchop_d_clown

6.

We definitely had encounters with what we considered ‘weird’ people.

Now, they’d be considered creepy.

A young boy in a striped shirt and shorts rides a bicycle on grass with a vintage car parked behind him. The image has a retro aesthetic

“My sister and I rode for hours home from vacation one time.

We sat on lawn chairs in the back of our dad’s truck.”

u/FireRescue3

“OMG, yes!

Plastic bottle water rocket, mounted on a wooden launcher, ready for takeoff in an open field with trees in the background

I rode with ourdogsin the back of my dad’s truck.

I also do not remember being in a car seat or even a booster past preschool age.

I’m not even that old either.”

A red combine harvester operates in a wheat field under a partly cloudy sky

u/mlo9109

8.

Today, someone would call CPS for letting their 5-year-old do something like that."

At the halfway point, there was a road with a bus stop overhead and a drainage hole.

A man drives a vintage car with a young boy in his lap. Another woman and two children are in the backseats

We’d stand under it and use vulgar language at people waiting for the bus.

Then we’d continue to the end of the tunnel, where we’d sit and smoke cigarettes.

Thank god neither of us got addicted, bitten by a rat, or arrested."

Two women, one in a visor, and a child with snorkeling goggles swim at a pool, smiling at the camera

u/Outrageous-Divide472

10.

Running and jumping in was very dumb."

“I grew up in a small town in Indiana.

However, below 15 feet or so, the water was about 58 degrees year-round.”

That was 50 years ago, and I can see and smell it like it was yesterday."

u/500SL

12.

We then tried jumping it on our bikes no helmets, of course.

I was maybe 11 or 12."

“There was a medical clinic near our house.

They would dump the test tubes full of blood into the big trashcan.

u/saywhat252525

14.

Random guys would stop and ask if I wanted a ride home.

I’d jump right in with a smile.

Nothing ever happened, but I would NEVER do that now or let my kids!”

u/WittyButter217

16.

“I used to run around corn fields as a kid, playing chicken with combines.

I’m 95% sure they couldn’t even see me.

I should be dead, honestly.”

Then, at 11 p.m. or midnight, they would come home.

u/HootieRocker59

18.

“I sat in my dad’s lap while he drove.

“I grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania on the shores of Lake Erie.

Think ‘lake effect’ snow at least 100 inches a season.

We had done this about 35 years ago.

My cousin lost my best mittens this way.”

u/Effective-Manager-29

20.

“Going to the public pool all day with a couple of my friends, minus any adults.

We all somehow survived it.”

Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.