Kick the can?? TIS, you are showing your age! I grew up in the city, and kids were always outside. We played Red Rover, or jump rope, stoop ball (with a Spaldeen, which I haven't seen in years), or sometimes the girls would just sit on the parked cars and watch the boys play stickball (it never occurred to us to play!). We also used to walk to the candy store and someone with a nickel would buy a Turkish Taffy (definitely no longer exists). We would go back to the stoop and slam the taffy until it broke into little pieces, and then share it out with the other kids.
Mothers were always yelling out the window to their kids. Sometimes they would call you, then throw money down in a handkerchief and tell you to go to the store for milk or bread. If I ever opened up the back door to call the girls in, my husband would be upset with me for disturbing the neighbors. What neighbors? They're never outside.
