confess thy childhood sins
Discussion
prompted by a thread i just read where it was intimated that an adult would break something just so that they had justification for a newer, better replacement.
odd behaviour and not related to this, but that's what prompted the memory.
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one christmas, when i was 10 or thereabouts, i was gifted a radio receiver which could, as claimed in the instructions, receive all kinds of frequencies including marine and air traffic.
for an introverted child being raised to have 'the knack' and a strong interest in a career in aviation, this should have been fantastic. a really great gift on my parent's part and i would also guess an informed purchase involving my uncle who is a bigger geek than my dad.
only it never worked. my 'play' with it was always solo. whenever my parents took an interest all we could get was static.
it never worked, dear reader, as i broke it long before xmas day. having 'discovered' it, i had been taking it out of its hiding place and using it whilst my parents were out. on one occasion i plugged it in to the mains, and there was a big puff of smoke and a bang, and it went from being a radio receiver to a player of static noise.
i have no idea why this memory was triggered by that thread and i do think it's one of the few childhood sins i haven't told my parents about [they are aware of the times i took 8 weeks off school using forged sicknotes, stole dad's company car, and far, far worse].
i feel some guilt at this memory. it was likely considered a stretch financially at that time [my birthday is 6 days after xmas so would have been my main, joint gift] but i mainly thinking of the thought that went into it and that and, in their eyes, i barely gave it any attention.
so please make me feel better and confess thy sins. try and keep it light
odd behaviour and not related to this, but that's what prompted the memory.
___
one christmas, when i was 10 or thereabouts, i was gifted a radio receiver which could, as claimed in the instructions, receive all kinds of frequencies including marine and air traffic.
for an introverted child being raised to have 'the knack' and a strong interest in a career in aviation, this should have been fantastic. a really great gift on my parent's part and i would also guess an informed purchase involving my uncle who is a bigger geek than my dad.
only it never worked. my 'play' with it was always solo. whenever my parents took an interest all we could get was static.
it never worked, dear reader, as i broke it long before xmas day. having 'discovered' it, i had been taking it out of its hiding place and using it whilst my parents were out. on one occasion i plugged it in to the mains, and there was a big puff of smoke and a bang, and it went from being a radio receiver to a player of static noise.
i have no idea why this memory was triggered by that thread and i do think it's one of the few childhood sins i haven't told my parents about [they are aware of the times i took 8 weeks off school using forged sicknotes, stole dad's company car, and far, far worse].
i feel some guilt at this memory. it was likely considered a stretch financially at that time [my birthday is 6 days after xmas so would have been my main, joint gift] but i mainly thinking of the thought that went into it and that and, in their eyes, i barely gave it any attention.
so please make me feel better and confess thy sins. try and keep it light
Me and a kid (Kevin) who lived a couple of doors along our balcony let off a stink-bomb in a corner-shop and were caught by the quite upset owner.
He kept us sitting on the floor at the back behind the counter for about an hour before taking the other stink-bombs off of us, snapping the tops off them and pouring the stinky contents on our heads.
I pass the shop each Saturday morning on a 69 bus and think of it every time.
It was probably about 1974 or so. I sometimes think I'll tell my mrs. of my tale each time we pass it, but thankfully always think better of it.
He kept us sitting on the floor at the back behind the counter for about an hour before taking the other stink-bombs off of us, snapping the tops off them and pouring the stinky contents on our heads.
I pass the shop each Saturday morning on a 69 bus and think of it every time.
It was probably about 1974 or so. I sometimes think I'll tell my mrs. of my tale each time we pass it, but thankfully always think better of it. shirt said:
... on one occasion i plugged it in to the mains, and there was a big puff of smoke and a bang...
Same thing happened with me when I used to sneak a play with my grandads Sony HandyCam video camera back in the early 90s. Big numb looking thing, but state of the art back then. He was very proud of it, holidays and family events he'd be there capturing it all on video. But because of how expensive it was the grandkids and their grubby hands weren't allowed anywhere near. Except whenever I went round and grandad wasn't in I'd always have a play with it. I used to plug it in to the RGB ports on the Sony Trinitron TV and entertain myself zooming in to the dog, clock, lladro ornaments or up my nose.
One time I went round as grandma and grandad were packing to go on holiday. The camera was sat on the table in the front room with four brand new blank tapes neatly placed next to the carry bag along with two of the three batteries waiting to be charged. The third was already on the charger.
Grandad said he was going out to pick up the travellers cheques and left grandma instructions to keep an eye on the battery charger. 'When the light stops flashing the battery is fully charged. Swap it over for one of the uncharged ones'.
Thinking I could help and get a play with the video camera I offered to swap the batteries over. 'No, I don't want you breaking it!'.
Bit rude, I thought, but never mind. Grandad went off into town to get the travellers cheques and grandma went upstairs to continue packing. I tried to keep myself occupied by watching TV and defacing pictures in grandmas magazines or whatever I used to do as a 7 year old to entertain myself. But the video camera, all neatly laid out on the table was too much of a distraction. The temptation to just have a quick play grew and grew. It was at that moment I noticed the light on the charger stopped flashing. It's solid green light lured me over.
'Grandma! The battery is fully charged!' I shouted. 'OK, change it over!' came the reply. Well, it didn't. I imagined if I shouted those words up the stairs that would be the reply. So to me and my 7 year old logic I had been instructed to change the battery over.
I changed the battery over and tried to walk away. Except I couldn't. The temptation to play with the camera was too much. I went upstairs to see what grandma was doing. She was working her way through a pile of ironing. She was going to be up there for a while I knew I'd be able to have a quick play with the camera before grandad got back.
As I went to attach the fully charged battery to the camera I noticed something I hadn't noticed before. The plug connected to the battery charger had a little dial on it. On closer inspection you could increase the voltage of the plug. I can't remember the voltage it was set at or what it went up to - it was over 30 years ago - but I turned it up slightly and the flashing green charge light lit up brighter and it made a slight buzzing noise. Amazing! I could plug it straight into the camera, turn up the voltage and it'll make it better! I don't know how, but more voltage has got to mean better!
So I unplugged the cable from the battery charger and plugged it straight into the camera. I turned the camera on and looked through the viewfinder. I turned the dial on the plug up slightly. Nothing happened. A bit more, still nothing, although there was a high pitched whistle coming from the camera. Disappointed I turned it right up. The viewfinder got very bright for a brief moment before it went blank and the camera died. It wouldn't turn on again. I unplugged it, fitted the fully charged battery and tried to turn it on. Nothing.
At this point I heard grandma moving around upstairs. Panicked I quickly set everything up as it was. I put the fully charged battery back on the charger, remembering my fantasy conversation with grandma where she said I could swap it over.
It all went very wrong when I plugged the cable back into the charger. The plug was still set at maximum voltage. As soon as I plugged it in it went pop and out came a puff of smoke. This made me jump, and I must have made a noise because grandma shouted down to see what was wrong. 'Oh, nothing!!' I replied, but I heard her coming down stairs to make sure. I quickly put the voltage dial back to where it was originally and jumped back on the sofa and pretended nothing had happened.
Grandad came back an hour or so later and luckily (for me) my mum arrived to pick up up a minute or two later, so instead of going to check on his video camera he had a chat with my mum. We said our goodbyes and wished them a happy holiday and went on our way.
Two weeks later we go and visit grandma and grandad to see how their holiday went. Usually grandad is excited to show us the video he got, but this time there was no mention of it. I asked if we could watch some of the holiday videos but he looked at me and shook his head. 'We didn't get any. Your grandma broke the video camera!'. I looked over to grandma, she looked perturbed. 'Oh... how?', I asked, hoping that after I blew up both the camera and the charger they magically fixed themselves and grandma just dropped the camera down some stairs. Turns out that neither happened. Grandad discovered that the charger no longer charged and that the camera also no longer worked. Grandma denied all knowledge, mainly because she didn't go anywhere near it, but grandad wouldn't have it.
I imagine it was quite a tense holiday. But on the plus side they still brought me some presents back, so all's well that ends well.
WarrenB said:
Stuff
The worst I can think of is throwing a stone over a hedge at school and hearing a smash as it broke a teacher's windscreen. The whole class got hauled in until someone confessed, but I'm a stubborn bugger and hadn't been spotted so I sat it out and we all had to do lines.
Well under 10 y/o we used to throw berries at passing cars, from an underpass as the cars went over it. Every now and then an adult stopped, got out and chased us for a while. I am of course now deeply ashamed as if any kid did that to my car I'd fookin beat them to a pulp 
We also did the same with snowballs^ and houses / windows, again running off when the adults emerged from their house.
^how to show your age without telling anyone your age!
TX.
We also did the same with snowballs^ and houses / windows, again running off when the adults emerged from their house.
^how to show your age without telling anyone your age!
TX.
Me and my friends used to hang around the shunting yards at our local coalmine, making complete nuisances of ourselves.
One time, the shunter came along with a long line of trucks, decoupled and went away on a different line. We knew he would be back soon, so we ran in and decoupled every truck from each other. Sure enough, the shunter came back and coupled up to the trucks. Obviously, only the first truck moved, so the driver ended up having to recouple all the trucks back together. I can't imagine him being very happy.
Another time, we were right at the far end of the shunting yard, where the trains seldom came. Anyway, this shunter came right up to the buffer stops and a bloke jumps out with something that he hid in the bushes. After he left, we went to see what it was. It was a door. One of those with 12 or 15 glass panels. We took great delight in smashing that door to pieces. I would love to have been there when he went to collect it after his shift.
One time, the shunter came along with a long line of trucks, decoupled and went away on a different line. We knew he would be back soon, so we ran in and decoupled every truck from each other. Sure enough, the shunter came back and coupled up to the trucks. Obviously, only the first truck moved, so the driver ended up having to recouple all the trucks back together. I can't imagine him being very happy.
Another time, we were right at the far end of the shunting yard, where the trains seldom came. Anyway, this shunter came right up to the buffer stops and a bloke jumps out with something that he hid in the bushes. After he left, we went to see what it was. It was a door. One of those with 12 or 15 glass panels. We took great delight in smashing that door to pieces. I would love to have been there when he went to collect it after his shift.
I carved my brother's initials in the internal window ledge of our porch. I would be 11 or so my brother 3 years older. We never got along and 40 yrs on I struggle to tolerate him.
Anyway. Not my initials so of course I didn't do it so guess who got the blame?
Served him right for being a manipulative so and so.
Anyway. Not my initials so of course I didn't do it so guess who got the blame?
Served him right for being a manipulative so and so.
WarrenB said:
I must have made a noise because grandma shouted down to see what was wrong. 'Oh, nothing!!' I replied, but I heard her coming down stairs to make sure.
i reckon your grandma may have done you a service there, knew exactly what had happened and decided it was better for her to take the fall and the gifts were for ridding her of the, umm, attentions of 90s home video 
In what used to be called 3rd Year at Junior School (year 5 now) we were in a portable building classroom. It had aluminium windows with stays like these, only aluminium.
I thought it would be good to lean on one, expecting it to bend a bit. It didn't, it snapped off. I quickly moved away thinking I hadn't been seen. I don't recall if this was in a lesson or just before/after as there couldn't have been many people around.
At the end of the day, the teacher called for our attention and showed the broken stay asking for the person who had broken it to confess. No Chance!
A kid put his hand up and said that had seen someone by the window but couldn't remember who it was whilst looking directly at me. There was absolutely no chance of me doing anything to stop him, he was a really tough lad and would have battered me if I tried to have a go at him if he did.
He didn't tell and he never mentioned it again, so maybe he just didn't know who it was
I thought it would be good to lean on one, expecting it to bend a bit. It didn't, it snapped off. I quickly moved away thinking I hadn't been seen. I don't recall if this was in a lesson or just before/after as there couldn't have been many people around.
At the end of the day, the teacher called for our attention and showed the broken stay asking for the person who had broken it to confess. No Chance!
A kid put his hand up and said that had seen someone by the window but couldn't remember who it was whilst looking directly at me. There was absolutely no chance of me doing anything to stop him, he was a really tough lad and would have battered me if I tried to have a go at him if he did.
He didn't tell and he never mentioned it again, so maybe he just didn't know who it was
Still got a few things I feel too guilty about even admitting.
We used to get in a lot of trouble. It wasn't hard when you each told your parents you were at the other friends house. That meant atleast 12hrs uninterrupted but if you also mentioned camping we could string that out to 2 or 3 days without any adult supervision. That would have been at around 8 or 9. I feel like we grew up quicker back then.
Let's just say fire and abandoned buildings held a unique fascination.
We used to get in a lot of trouble. It wasn't hard when you each told your parents you were at the other friends house. That meant atleast 12hrs uninterrupted but if you also mentioned camping we could string that out to 2 or 3 days without any adult supervision. That would have been at around 8 or 9. I feel like we grew up quicker back then.
Let's just say fire and abandoned buildings held a unique fascination.
Bill said:
The worst I can think of is throwing a stone over a hedge at school and hearing a smash as it broke a teacher's windscreen. The whole class got hauled in until someone confessed, but I'm a stubborn bugger and hadn't been spotted so I sat it out and we all had to do lines.
Hmmm...wonder if you went to the school where my daughter is a teacher?Most annoying part was she paid the £90 excess only to find out the next day that if she'd gone through her Union to get it fixed there'd have been no excess.
At the age of about 7 or 8, my best friend and I were bullied by the 'big lad' in the class - we were both very small for our age. He used to punch and kick us until we surrendered whatever we had, sweets, bars of chocolate, crisps etc.
Getting fed up of this, we hatched a plot for revenge. Back in those days (~1962-63), there was a medication called 'Beechams Pills' for constipation and the tablets were absolutely tiny and (apparently) quite potent. We got a bar of Fruit & Nut and gently softened it, then pressed loads of these tiny tablets into it and carefully re-wrapped it.
The following day, he struck again and the 'revenge' chocolate was duly stolen at morning playtime. Before the end of the day, he was quite ill and didn't re-appear at school for the rest of the week.
I met him at a school reunion just six weeks ago (to celebrate our common 70th bithdays) and had to have a quiet snigger; I still dislike the arrogant bugger!
Getting fed up of this, we hatched a plot for revenge. Back in those days (~1962-63), there was a medication called 'Beechams Pills' for constipation and the tablets were absolutely tiny and (apparently) quite potent. We got a bar of Fruit & Nut and gently softened it, then pressed loads of these tiny tablets into it and carefully re-wrapped it.
The following day, he struck again and the 'revenge' chocolate was duly stolen at morning playtime. Before the end of the day, he was quite ill and didn't re-appear at school for the rest of the week.
I met him at a school reunion just six weeks ago (to celebrate our common 70th bithdays) and had to have a quiet snigger; I still dislike the arrogant bugger!
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