Growing up it wasn’t uncommon for me to go to friend As house unannouced just walk in and find his mom in the backyard ask if flmy friend was there, she would say no. I would go 7 blocks away to friend B do the same thing find his dad in the garage and he say that friend B left an hour ago.
So I would walk 30 mins to the park and see friend D ask them if they seen friend A, they would say no. So I would go to the woods 20 mins away and friend friend A and B just hanging out then spend the next few hours chilling before running home cause the street lights came on.
Mom and dad would be out searching the same way I did for my little brother cause he went to friend A, then they went to B then D then the park. And none of them told their parents.
My dad would just track my brother’s friend group via where they left their bikes or random things in front lawns. So you could track the neighborhood kids that way.
So I would be home alone for an hour or so after dark before Dad and Mom pulled in with my brother and likely 3 other kids who would then stay the night.
Mom would then make dinner for everyone. I would eat the. Leave to back to friend A cause we agreed I would stay over and their parents would take me to school the next day since they left for work after school started instead of before.
So I would then just walk in the dark to my friend’s house
This was middle school for me. I would routinely cover 15+ miles a day back and forth all over the neighborhoods in a single day.
mech@feddit.org 3 months ago
In summer, the local playground, the basketball courts, the lake, or our secret place in the woods where we hid our porn magazines and fought our airsoft battles.
In winter, the video game store where you could play for free to “try them out”, another friend’s place, or my dad’s garage where we tried to build a bungee strap crossbow that shot Bic lighters.