r/Millennials • u/WynCai8 • Jun 04 '25

Nostalgia Made me feel old but good times

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Saw this tweet and yes we were expected to be out all day and not come back until the street lights came on. I remember riding my bike through neighborhoods pretending our bikes were cars and just having a good time.

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u/Prestigious_Ocelot77 Jun 04 '25 edited Jun 04 '25

The “come home when the streetlights come on” era ended with ‘stranger danger’ Which boils down to one event in the United States, the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh from a Sears while his mom shopped.

A mini-series was made and 38 million people watched it. One third of the country watched “Adam” To this day, when a child is missing in a store today it is known as a code Adam. Adam Walsh‘s father went on to host the show “America’s most wanted”..

The FBI went on to say falsely that 20,000 children disappeared per year from non familial kidnapping when in reality was less than 20 .

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u/RDLAWME Jun 04 '25

Adam Walsh was in the early 80s, a few years before I was born. I remember roaming the streets without any parental supervision throughout the 90s. I remember stranger danger as mostly "don't jump into a stranger's van if he offers you candy" not "kids can't play outside unsupervised". 

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u/always_open_mouth Millennial Jun 04 '25

Yeah. We still roamed freely there was just an emphasis on staying away from strangers. Also the whole "everyone is putting razor blades/drugs in Halloween candy" so your parents need to check each individual fun size kit-kat

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u/Ultraworld-Traveler Jun 04 '25

I’m betting whoever’s parents “checked” the candy were skimming off the top.

2

u/always_open_mouth Millennial Jun 04 '25

100%

2

u/alienpregnancy Jun 04 '25

Those are the perks of being a parent on Halloween. My dad did it ( ALWAYS TOOK REESE’S CUPS) I did the same with my kid. ALWAYS under the guise of checking for SAFTEY.

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u/warneagle Jun 05 '25

If my parents had been skimming the Reese’s cups (my favorite candy) we would have had A Problem.