~~~~~~~~~
TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED THE
1930s, '40s, '50s,
'60s and '70s!!
First, we survived
being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank
while they were
pregnant.
They took aspirin,
ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for
diabetes.
Then, after that
trauma, we were
put to sleep on
our tummies
in baby cribs
covered
with bright
coloured lead-based paints.
We had no
childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or
cabinets,
and, when we rode
our bikes,
we had baseball
caps,
not helmets, on
our heads.
As infants and
children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat
belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..
Riding in the back
of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special
treat.
We drank water
from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft
drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from
this.
We ate cupcakes,
white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white
sugar. And we weren't overweight.
WHY?
Because we were
always outside playing...that's why!
We would leave
home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the
streetlights came on.
No one was able to
reach us all day.
--And, we were
OKAY.
We would spend
hours building
our go-carts out
of scraps
and then ride them
down the hill,
only to find out
we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to
solve the problem..
We did not have
Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were
no video games, no
150 channels on cable,
no video movies or
DVDs,
no surround-sound
or CDs,
no cell
phones,
no personal
computers,
no Internet and no
chat rooms.
WE HAD
FRIENDS
and we went
outside and found them!
We fell out of
trees, got cut,
broke bones and
teeth,
and there were no
lawsuits
from those
accidents.
We would get
spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand,
and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms, and
mud pies
made from dirt,
and
the worms did not
live in us forever.
We were given BB
guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and
-although we were
told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or
walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
walked in and talked to them.
Little League had
tryouts
and not everyone
made the team.
Those who didn't
had to learn
to deal with
disappointment.
Imagine
that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if
we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations
have produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers,
and inventors ever.
The past 50 to 85
years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..
We had freedom,
failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it
all.
If YOU are one of
those born
between 1925-1970,
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to
share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own
good.
While you are at
it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents
were.
Kind of makes you
want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?
~~~~~~~
The quote of the
month
by
Jay
Leno:
"With hurricanes,
tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu
and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the
Pledge of Allegiance?"
For those that
prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete
this.
For the rest of
us.....pass this on.
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