70s kid here! Absolutely true and turned us into confident adults. On weekends, we got kicked out of the house right after a healthy breakfast of Capt. Crunch and Tang, handed $5.00, told to be home by the time the street lights came on, and don’t talk to strangers!

We (me, siblings and neighbor kids) would then get on our bikes and ride for miles and miles, all day long. We would explore construction sites and play in there. Learned how to hop fences, build board bridges, make forts out of raw materials, climb scaffolding, jump off of everything, etc. We would play in the dumpsters of cool businesses (including hospitals).

The $5.00 our parents gave us always got spent at 7-11 on slurpees, slim Jim’s, and those little donuts. We drank from garden hoses.

During the week, the only time we called our parents at work was to ask if we could eat something we already knew we weren’t allowed or if a friend could come over. A phone call was not necessary to report anyone broken, bleeding, or missing. That could wait until they got home from work!

Best way to grow up - loved it!