Stupid things we did as kids

[Mikebits]

Not sure why but I was thinking of how stupid I was when I was a kid. Examples:

I once saw a movie that had paratroopers in it. Thinking how cool it was, I took my moms umbrella to the roof and jumped with the umbrella. Did not work like the movies, broke the umbrella and my arm.

One night we were having the worst windstorm in our towns history, maybe 70mph gust winds. My friend and I decided to take our skateboards along with one of my moms sheets and go wind-sailing. It actually worked, we had a pretty good speed going all the way up to the point where a small pebble locked up my skateboard wheel. My friend lost a tooth, and I had my second broken arm.

Once I thought it would be cool to sew a patch on my jacket using my moms sewing machine. Had no idea how to work it, but how hard could it be? Well, after the ER visit the docs were able to detach me from the patch and jacket. Note to self, keep fingers away from sewing needle.

Was I just a clumsy kid, or do you have similar tales?

 

[RichTheDude]

I broke my foot, trod on nails and did all sorts of things as a kid. One of the most stupid things I ever did was riding my racing bike that I was restoring (from the 60’s) down to my grandfathers to fit the brakes – the last part of the restoration. (there was an awesome shop that got me the correct transfers for the respray and period styled chrome parts)

My grandfather lived in the bottom of the valley (which is pretty flat), and I lived at the top of the valley, with a very big downwards hill between us. “No problem” I thought, I will just ride there and use my feet on the floor or on the wheel as brakes. Unfortunately I had just come home from school, and as of such I was wearing leather soled shoes which have about as much grip as diesel soaked ice.

I was overtaking cars, I ran straight through a junction and took a few corners like motorbike racers do. As I rolled up outside my granddads house and finally stopped, I just sat there still with white knuckles on the handlebars. I came out of that adventure in one piece, but it is was probably the most frightening thing I did

 

[Mikebits]

Lol, how were the shoes?

 

[DerStrom8]

I once saw a movie that had paratroopers in it. Thinking how cool it was, I took my moms umbrella to the roof and jumped with the umbrella. Did not work like the movies, broke the umbrella and my arm.

You know, Nikola Tesla did the exact same thing--from his barn roof....

I've done my fair share of stupid things. I think I mentioned this once in a different thread, but once I lashed together some DC caps and an ignition coil (I was trying to build a driver based on a circuit I saw, without knowing what anything actually did!), and plugged the whole thing in to the wall socket. I got lucky that time--only a bright flash. No burns or explosions, thankfully.

I've done a lot of stupid things. Can't seem to remember many right now--just that there's a lot of them

 

[Electroenthusiast]

I had once tried to glow a LED sized bulb with mains voltage. Had got an electric shock while doing that. Later, my Dad said that i can't do that, practically showed that to me too. That small bulb blowed up!

Had recollected this today morning.

 

[UTMonkey]

You did the umbrella thing as well.... sure it wasn't after watching Mary poppins?

 

[strantor]

I used to build bikes from parts of other bikes. A bike that had all it's original bits just didn't appeal to me; I rode nothing but frankenstein bikes. I would build ramps and obstacles out of neighborhood junk (I lived in a junky neighborhood). One day I built a ramp on the sidewak out of an oak front door I found, propped up on one end by cinder blocks. My friends & I took turns going up the ramp, and propping more and more cinder blocks under it each time, anticipating who would chicken out first. I was the last one to go up it, probably at almost a 45 degree angle, about 4' off the ground. The bike I was riding that day had a 10" scooter tire in the front, and a 24" BMX tire on the rear. The particular back wheel had extra long bolts where it boltaed to the frame - not sure why, maybe for bike pegs to mount. Well anyway, as I approached the top of the ramp, that little front wheel took a page from the shimmying walmart cart caster wheel's book and bike went down just at the precise moment that there was no longer anything to go down onto. The ramp just leisurely puked the bike & myself out onto the sidewalk; The bike landed on it's side, and I landed on the bike - right on top of that long bolt. The bolt penetrated my butt cheek about an inch deep. bloody underwear, crying in front of my friends, lost the competition - it was one of my more embarrassing days as a kid.

 

[DerStrom8]

Well anyway, as I approached the top of the ramp, that little front wheel took a page from the shimmying walmart cart caster wheel's book and bike went down just at the precise moment that there was no longer anything to go down onto. The ramp just leisurely puked the bike & myself out onto the sidewalk; The bike landed on it's side, and I landed on the bike - right on top of that long bolt. The bolt penetrated my butt cheek about an inch deep. bloody underwear, crying in front of my friends, lost the competition - it was one of my more embarrassing days as a kid.

I was cringing the entire time I was reading this!

I must say, you sure have a way of putting things poetically!

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

I put my car into park while it was still moving and broke a tooth on the parking gear. I had to sometimes get out the jack to undo it if I didn't put the emergency brake on first. Probably 16 YO.

I didn't put oil in the lawnmower and threw a rod. I had to fix it. I was probably 10.

The chain saw and kickback. I won't do that again.

Hitting my pinky on edge with a hammer while scrapping transformers.

Blood poisoning from a nail. A nice blue streak running up my arm.

The car that fell off the jack. I forget the details.


Sewing I had no trouble with. I also did three HUGE (12" x 36" or so) paint by number paintings at age 6. They still look good.

 

[DerStrom8]

I put my car into park while it was still moving and broke a tooth on the parking gear. I had to sometimes get out the jack to undo it if I didn't put the emergency brake on first. Probably 16 YO.

I never broke my car or got in an accident, but I am very lucky. A couple of times I have put my car into reverse instead of drive, and vice versa. Could have really injured myself or someone else. I've learned to be much more careful to check the indicator before letting off the brake/putting on the gas.

 

[strantor]

I've crashed into a house (in a pickup), hit several deer, a dog, 2 trashcans, a seagull, wrecked a motorcycle on the freeway, burnt up the ungine in my dad's truck, and ran over a parking lot curb that ripped the oil pan off my trans am... but I thought we were talking about stuff we did as kids. I also got my truck so stuck in the mud that I had to wait 10 days for it to dry up enough to get a tractor out there and dig it out.

 

[bryan1]

As a kid we had some sand hills and lots of new houses being built, the new houses were a good source of floor boarding off cuts which we make single ski type boards, couple of straps for the bare feet then off to find the best sand hills to go have some fun. We found one where after some scrub was a dam so the comp was for the best ride down the sandhill and jumping as far as one can and not going into the dam.

Now just wearing a Tee shirt and boardies wasn't the best idea to go scrub jumping in lantana bushes, anyway my mate went first and not after he was out of sight a blood curling yell was heard. As he went thru the bush a broken branch went straight thru his upper leg near the hip and the poor guy was stuck there about 5 metres above the water. A couple of hours later after the ambulance and fire crew got him off to hospital we were out there again.

None of us got hurt apart from scratches from the bushes and it was great fun.

Cheers Bryan

 

[jrz126]

about 10 years ago, I was helping a friend remove an engine from an old car he was scrapping. We didn't have a engine hoist, so we decided to cut the front of the car and pull it out. I was running the oxygen acetylene torches, while cutting through the bumper I saw a cylinder shape. I wondered what it was, but figured whatever, it'll cut. I put a pinhole in it and it blew up in my face. Talking to the paramedic in the ambulance, turns out it was a gas shock to absorb slow speed impacts.

3rd degree on my nose and ear, 2nd degree burns on my face and neck. Spent the next month on the couch recovering. I only have a tiny scar on my ear.

 

[strantor]

about 10 years ago, I was helping a friend remove an engine from an old car he was scrapping. We didn't have a engine hoist, so we decided to cut the front of the car and pull it out. I was running the oxygen acetylene torches, while cutting through the bumper I saw a cylinder shape. I wondered what it was, but figured whatever, it'll cut. I put a pinhole in it and it blew up in my face. Talking to the paramedic in the ambulance, turns out it was a gas shock to absorb slow speed impacts.

3rd degree on my nose and ear, 2nd degree burns on my face and neck. Spent the next month on the couch recovering. I only have a tiny scar on my ear.

that sucks hard. Thanks to your story, and the mythbusters special, hopefully that won't happen to anyone else.

 

[DerStrom8]

about 10 years ago, I was helping a friend remove an engine from an old car he was scrapping. We didn't have a engine hoist, so we decided to cut the front of the car and pull it out. I was running the oxygen acetylene torches, while cutting through the bumper I saw a cylinder shape. I wondered what it was, but figured whatever, it'll cut. I put a pinhole in it and it blew up in my face. Talking to the paramedic in the ambulance, turns out it was a gas shock to absorb slow speed impacts.

3rd degree on my nose and ear, 2nd degree burns on my face and neck. Spent the next month on the couch recovering. I only have a tiny scar on my ear.

I think I heard something about that being a problem in some cars. I think the Mythbusters did a segment on it--supposedly those things overheated and shot the bumper off a woman's car when she was standing in front of it, and took both her legs clear off. Or something like that

Glad it wasn't too serious, jrz.

 

[jrz126]

I think I heard something about that being a problem in some cars. I think the Mythbusters did a segment on it--supposedly those things overheated and shot the bumper off a woman's car when she was standing in front of it, and took both her legs clear off. Or something like that

Glad it wasn't too serious, jrz.

The paramedic said they never approach a burning vehicle from the front or rear, for that reason.

They took me to the local hospital then sent me down to the burn unit in Pittsburgh, about 2 hours south. I missed out on the free helicopter ride because it was raining. And to add to it, I had just finished finals and started summer vacation 2 days before this happened. Still better than our original plan to cut the car up during spring break, but one of the fittings for the torches broke. Probably would have had to repeat the whole semester if it happened then.

 

[Mikebits]

Once as a teenager, my friend and I thought it would be funny to make a human look alike mannequin, and place it on the road with ketchup all over it (to look like blood), and wait for the reactions of the drivers as they approached the mannequin. Well as it was night time and visibility was not so good, this lady driver approached the mannequin, next thing we see, is she swerved to avoid hitting it, she flew through a fence and crashed into a yard centerpiece. The damage was quite bad. My friend and I observing from the roof of my house were gobsmacked. This was never our plan, we just thought it we be a good laugh, but instead a bad ending to a bad joke.

My friend and I both remained silenced to this day, but I have always carried the guilt. As kids we sure do stupid things.

 

[large_ghostman]

i tried soldering under the covers in bed by torch light last year it didnt go well i made myself sick with the fumes and burnt the sheets mum was not that happy and dad cut the plug off the soldering iron

 

[jrz126]

When I was about 12-14, I was playing around with a soldering iron on my picnic table. Cant remember what exactly I was doing, but I had melted a big blob of it for some reason. Then it managed to fall off the surface i melted it on, through the crack between two boards of the table and land right on my leg. I don't remember it hurting that bad. I still have the 1/2" diameter scar from it.

 

[strantor]

in my experience, the deeper/worse the burn, the less it hurts. I guess the nerves get burned. I once had a grasshopper taped to a firecracker, firecracker in the pouch of my slingshot, pulled back and let my cousin light it. We had been trying to do this all day, to time it right, so that it would explode in the air - not fall to the ground and explode and not explode in the slingshot. So my cousin lit it, and the glowing piece of fuse fell off onto my finger; well, I didn't want to move because I felt I was "almost there" so I paused a couple of seconds, then released and checked my wound. The piece of ember had burned down all the way into the meat of my finger and I hadn't even realized. I could see my muscle through a little 1/8" window. Well, failed again - guess that's what I got for picking on grasshoppers. still have that scar.