Frazz by Jef Mallett for May 01, 2014

“Foam rubber mulch”? Is that some kind of Michigan thing?

When we launched from swings we landed on dirt/sand/grass instead of someone’s (afraid of civil action) idea of how to make things safe. More fun going the distance, gave an appreciation of risk. Great how May Day was worked into the strip.

When I was a kid my favorite playground mulch was the “chewed up tires” stuff. It was bouncy!

Some of the swings I used to go on were in the middle of a parking lot, and were just surrounded by blacktop!You had to plan your landing well before the dismount….

I am constantly amazed that I survived childhood (in the ’50s).

I would say survival of the fittest, but this new generation has changed my opinion.

Coincidentally, my kid twisted her ankle jumping off the swing at school yesterday. Nothing like getting an early start, I guess.

We had ‘Pea Gravel’ in the 60’s, and more than a few broken bones. No known lawsuits however.

Whenever the issue of increasing the safety of childhood activities comes up, there is this never-ending meme of “we took all kinds of chances, we survived and managed just fine; today’s kids are/will become namby-pamby’s, we were tough!”.

Nobody ever seems to notice that the kids who didn’t survive a childhood from the “good old days” don’t participate in the dialog.

Very impressive little girl!

Not really over the top at all. The liability lawyer’s guild is a major force in creating/promoting our society of victims.

When I was growing up we had an old slide in our backyard (we lived on a farm with 20 Acres). My dad got the slide from the playground of his old schoolyard so it was originally from the 1930’s. It was about as tall as a one story building and didn’t have any safety rails and I was told that when I was about a year old my brother took me to the top of the slide and set me down, but instead of sliding down I fell off the side all the way to the ground. No serious injuries, but to this day whenever I don’t feel secure I feel like I’m falling and I can see the ground (or floor) approaching. I never really got over my fear of heights.

I miss the monkey bars….I was the champ and should be dead by now….

The ‘launch sequence’ panels look like a tribute to Spaceman Spiff.