Difference between revisions of "Talk:2603: Childhood Toys"

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(I think pedal cars and go-karts are missing.)
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::Not all the things listed are really toys, it's more that there are versions made for children, and you might well have had them as a child. You do not get automobiles aimed at children (with a few expensive exceptions), so that's why they are not in the list. The closest would be pedal cars and go-karts - I think they are the more notable exception. I would totally commute to work on an electic go-kart if I could. [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 09:13, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
 
::Not all the things listed are really toys, it's more that there are versions made for children, and you might well have had them as a child. You do not get automobiles aimed at children (with a few expensive exceptions), so that's why they are not in the list. The closest would be pedal cars and go-karts - I think they are the more notable exception. I would totally commute to work on an electic go-kart if I could. [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 09:13, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
 
Slip N Slide doesn't need to be downhill. It's common to use a running start and then leap onto it, then slide to the end. But this method only works for a few yards at most, so for commuting you'd need to keep getting up to run to the next one. We'd need a network of them on every street. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:35, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
 
Slip N Slide doesn't need to be downhill. It's common to use a running start and then leap onto it, then slide to the end. But this method only works for a few yards at most, so for commuting you'd need to keep getting up to run to the next one. We'd need a network of them on every street. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:35, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
 +
:I feel a ski-lift-like system would be helpful for sliding uphill. Or perhaps some sort of high-flow fan.
 
:I like bicycling everywhere, & I despise unnecessary commuting by ''any'' means, but I'd strongly consider just about any job that made it easy for everyone to commute there by Slip'N'Slide... Can we get home by zip-line?   
 
:I like bicycling everywhere, & I despise unnecessary commuting by ''any'' means, but I'd strongly consider just about any job that made it easy for everyone to commute there by Slip'N'Slide... Can we get home by zip-line?   
 
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:21, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
 
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:21, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

Revision as of 09:58, 8 April 2022


Tarzan would thrive commuting by tire swing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.69.68.170 (contribstalk) 22:11, 6 April 2022 (UTC)


How are a bicycle, scooter or wagon toys, or childlike. They're actually designed for commute and children aren't even allowed on scooters. Tharkon (talk) 22:45, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

Wagon doesn't mean station wagon. Google "toy wagon" to see what he's referring to. And electric scooter is a motorized version of a common child's toy. Barmar (talk) 22:56, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
I didn't actually assume a station wagon, was thinking of the thing usually pulled by horses. And doesn't the fact that a 'toy wagon' exists suggest that a regular wagon is not a toy? And I thought a scooter was more like a motorized bicycle rather than a toy, like a motorcycle, but slower. And at least here, you'd need to be at least 16 years old and get a permit to drive one. Funny how the same word borrowed in a closely related language can suddenly carry such different meanings. Tharkon (talk) 23:17, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
Since the heading says "childhood toys", I think we're supposed to understand that he means a toy wagon. And the comic shows the kind of scooter he's talking about, not a motorized bike. Barmar (talk) 23:27, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
Here in the UK, there are:
  • Push-along-scooters (childs toys, steel-tubing, often red and blue painted/trimmed, maybe pink for girls) that you one-leg along. Around the turn of the millenium, the craze arrived for 'adult' versions (I got one!), mostly in bare and sturdier aluminium.
  • The motorised vehicle that might also be called a 'moped' (such terms might be considered defamatory, by the proud owner of a Lambretta, etc, depending upon era and exactly which type of motored two-wheeler you're describing)
  • Mobility scooters, i.e. four-wheel (sometimes three) electrical vehicles sometimes barely a seat/handlebars on a moving platform, others almost like a quad-bike (esp. off-road capable ones)
  • Now (well, since the last few years) the illustrated kind that is electrically-powered version of the sturdier push-alongs.
...though (as I appended in a link), except for some very limited and controlled trial-schemes, it is actually illegal to use electric 'executive' scooters (the last category). Both on roads and pavements (i.e. sidewalks). They are not considered roadworthy, for the former, and riding on the pavement is illegal for various vehicles (including bicycles, though few know/care this). There's no special provision for the use of cycle-lanes (on-road) or cycle-paths (shared/split pavements, or bridlepath-level trails). The only place an otherwise unregulated electric-scooter can be ridden is 'private land'. Which means you'd have very little chance of commuting upon your own scooter, legally, only the sanctioned for-hire ones.
I was in Austin, TX a few months ago, and companies like Lime Bike had pods of electric scooters (like the one in the comic) for rent on the streets. So the legality is very location-dependent. Barmar (talk) 14:03, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
This is a description of the situation in the UK (see link I put in main explanation), although the sanctioned rental schemes mentioned are the explicitly legal exception for the UK, in explicitly served areas... as long as you have a driver's licence and follow other rules. Looking at the US legality, it's probably as patchwork as you'd expect with federal/state/local laws doing their usual uncoordinated things... ;) 172.70.86.64 14:34, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
(There's no such restrection on e-bikes, except for a theoretical maximum speed/power before they should be considersd motorbikes rather than electrified-mopeds. They are as welcome on the roads as bicycles (which largely depends upon the motorists and their prejudices/impatience), and similarly as illegal to ride on pavements (though of course people do that!)...) 172.70.162.77 12:30, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
Is this possibly a cultural difference? At least in the USA, I have definitely seen kids (maybe not much younger than 10, but still) using electric scooters. Wagons and bikes are definitely associated more with kids in the USA as well, because, unfortunately, cars are seen as the only "real," most viable, and most independent form of transport. (As I have heard others say, bikes are just what you use until you get a car.) 172.70.114.251 01:31, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
Presumably. This puzzled me a lot too. Bicycles aren't remotely 'toys', nor are scooters really -- and I'm assuming here this don't mean scooters in the sense of a small motorbike. EDIT: as is obvious from the actual cartoon. Zoid42 (talk) 08:49, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
In some areas of the US, bicycles are used solely for pleasure and exercise, not for actually getting anywhere. Partially because there isn't anything worth going to within an easy biking distance, and partially because the entire road system and the people who use it are often openly hostile to bicyclists.172.70.174.13 09:25, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
It's surprising to see bikes listed as toys and not automobiles. Makes it seem like some new conservative meme has snuck into Randal. Weird comic for sure. 172.70.114.251 21:24, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
Not all the things listed are really toys, it's more that there are versions made for children, and you might well have had them as a child. You do not get automobiles aimed at children (with a few expensive exceptions), so that's why they are not in the list. The closest would be pedal cars and go-karts - I think they are the more notable exception. I would totally commute to work on an electic go-kart if I could. Sandor (talk) 09:13, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

Slip N Slide doesn't need to be downhill. It's common to use a running start and then leap onto it, then slide to the end. But this method only works for a few yards at most, so for commuting you'd need to keep getting up to run to the next one. We'd need a network of them on every street. Barmar (talk) 23:35, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

I feel a ski-lift-like system would be helpful for sliding uphill. Or perhaps some sort of high-flow fan.
I like bicycling everywhere, & I despise unnecessary commuting by any means, but I'd strongly consider just about any job that made it easy for everyone to commute there by Slip'N'Slide... Can we get home by zip-line?
ProphetZarquon (talk) 00:21, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

A road made of trampolines could actually be extremely useful for short-distance commutes since you go a lot faster. N-eh (talk) 00:19, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

This is not exactly new. With special praise to the Pogo Stick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGQBu_cqzn8

Given a choice between a big wheel (tricycle), unicycle, or a toy wagon (https://www.classicredwagons.com/radio_flyer_classic_red_wagon_18_c_p10.htm) as the only allowed ways to commute, I think the vast majority would toss their stuff in, use it as a scooter uphill and level, then sit in it and gleefully zoom downhill. I’d even take stilts or a pogo stick over a unicycle. In fact, I don’t see how a unicycle qualifies as a childhood toy at all. I’ve seen children using everything else mentioned, but I’ve never seen a unicycle for sale anywhere, and I’ve never seen anyone successfully ride one who wasn’t a professional acrobat.172.69.33.7 17:11, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

This strip reminds me of the Ripping Yarns episode: "Across the Andes By Frog". Although the characters in the episode didn't actually ride frogs, their progress across the mountain range was limited to the speed at which the poor amphibians could hop. Needless to say, the high altitude and low temperatures were another limiting factor. I can't remember whether they were eventually successful. Beechmere (talk) 02:07, 8 April 2022 (UTC)Beechmere