Back in the day when I was a wee young thing of only twelve
I was a forces brat and my Dad was serving in the Tank Regiment in Germany. My friend Carl and I discovered this great place to play in the woods, exploring and just having fun. In the middle of the wood was a big red and white painted metal pylon. When I later questioned my Dad as to what this was, he became furious. Six miles from home, close to the tank ranges I had found the American base. I was grounded for two weeks.

As soon as I was ungrounded, Carl and I took his cheap inflatable dinghy and went for a paddle on the local lake. Being the mid 80s, we had no buoyancy jackets added to which I could not swim. We had a great time, but one of my mothers friends ratted me out to her. Upon my return home, I was yelled at for an hour for my stupidity, told I was not allowed to play with Carl anymore and grounded for another two weeks.

When I grew up I became a Mountaineer, Mountain Biker and Outdoor education teacher. No one ever told me off again for being adventurous. Well until I was doing a Freelance job in Avon Gorge (Sea Walls for those who know the area) and during my lunch break soloed a 90 foot route called Jasper. The guy who hired me was horrified and I got told that I was a maniac.

People just don't like it if you are adventurous.
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Fri 8 Feb 2013, 12:08, 5 replies)

Ha ha ha!
I remember being at college and being taken on a climbing trip to the local sandstone and clambering up a route in about 30 seconds unharnessed! I got a right rollicking from the teacher until I showed him my guide book with pretty much every route ticked off because of spending my weekends there!
( SauronWibble I'll hold it, you lick it..., Fri 8 Feb 2013, 12:38, closed)

Jasper can be a bit slippy. That could have ended badly.

(Brigadier an old boot sitting on a man's face - forever, Fri 8 Feb 2013, 13:40, closed)

You are right, it is polished to buggery and that over hang is a little scary.
My climbing days were at the tail end of the 90s, so I dread to think what it is like now. To be honest though, all of Avon is badly polished like that. There is a lovely little multi pitch route in Unknown Area that is just nice for beginners, apart from the one horribly polished step! Scares the poojuice out of them every time. What makes it worse for them though is when you walk past them in your trainers, while they have a knee shake and struggle with gear at half height! It should not be totally underestimated though because this is the same route that killed Wilmot of Exploding Galaxy Wall fame.
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Fri 8 Feb 2013, 19:19, closed)

This can't be right, you said your parents took a reasonable and fair approach to parenting.

( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Fri 8 Feb 2013, 13:41, closed)

All that firepower on a military base,
and they go for a grounding. I'd been executed by firing squad 5 times before I was 12, and it never did me any harm.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 8 Feb 2013, 15:37, closed)