One of my favorite sites on the Net is Quora. For those of you who do not know, Quora enables anyone to put forward any—well, almost any—question and have it answered by whoever feels like answering it. Perusing the German version some days ago, I came across the following question: As a youth what did you do that would be completely out of the question today and legally subject to all kinds of punishment?

The question was answered by a Herr Christian Campe. All I know about him is that he lives in a small village not far from Muenster and is the father of four children. I tried to look him up, but without success. Hence, in translating and posting his answer (which he wrote in German), I was unable to ask him for permission. My apologies, Herr Campe. I hope you are not offended. In case you are, and in case you insist, I shall of course take my post off line immediately.

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What we did?

Build shelters on “unoccupied” land. Yes, there used to be such a thing. Later we also built tree houses. With no help from any adults.

Build bonfires. Yes, children love bonfires. That is as true today as it was at the time. We even built them close to houses. Often causing some old gentleman to appear and give us a sack full of old potatoes so we could roast them. Coming home we smelled of smoke. But that is what bathtubs are for.

Each of us used to have a camping knife. We used it to carve our initials into tree trunks, which may have done them some damage.

Aged 12, we already started going on long bicycle trips. Arriving at a lake, we never needed either towel or swimsuits. We stripped and jumped into the water, just as God had made us. When it was over we dried ourselves in the sun before getting dressed and going home.

At that time no one had ever heard of children’s rights. Parents were entitled to spank their offspring and did so quite often. Fortunately for me, my parents were somewhat more progressive in this respect.

Swimming was something we were taught by our older siblings and friends. Looking after us, they wore their swimsuits. The same applied when girls were present and also when we visited a swimming pool. There were not too many pools, either covered or open air. But reaching them with our bikes was never a problem.
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We used to have friends whom we only met during the afternoon, given that they did not attend the same school we did.

We may not have had rights, but we were free. Our parents respected our free time and left us alone. There was a reverse side to the coin: parents did not take much of an interest in what we did between about 2 and 7-8 and, during school vacations, the whole day.

Perhaps one reason why we survived was that there were so few electric railways around. As a result, we could climb parked wagons without running the danger of being electrocuted. Another reason was that there were far fewer cars than there are now. Those we did encounter drove slowly and made more noise. So you could not help but notice them.

So life was dangerous, but perhaps not as dangerous as it is today.

How glad I am not to be a child today. In particular, I miss one thing. The green meadows where we used to roam, but which have since been covered by industrial zones and single family houses. As well as all other empty lots now protected by signs bearing the words, private property, no entry, parents are responsible for their children.

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As I said, I know nothing about Herr Campe. So I thought it would be amusing to use my imagination to try and conjure him up. Somewhat more than fifty years old, which means that he grew up during the 1980s. Knowing Germany as I do, I can tell you there was lots more nudity then than there is now! Eyes either blue or brown. Blond, clean-shaven, and somewhat stocky. Speaks Low German which, being close to Dutch, is easy for me to understand. Happily married. Excellent family life. By profession, a teacher; his wife, either a nurse or a social worker. Lower middle class. Meaning they are not rich but, as long as they do not splurge (which they do once a year, going on vacation), they have enough to live on. Live in a one- or two family house he or his wife inherited from their parents and look after very well. In the garden, flowers. Approaching the front door, the first thing you see is lots of shoes of all sizes; indoor they wear either socks or slippers. They run a car—perhaps a second-hand one—large enough to hold the six of them plus, probably, a medium-sized dog. However, when moving about in the village where everyone knows them and they know everyone, all of them prefer to use a bike.

In case you, Herr Campe, read this post, will you do me a favor and let me know whether I hit the mark? All in good fun, of course.

My email is mvc.dvc@gmail.com.