Those Born 1930-1979!
First, we survived being born to mothers who 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 colored lead-based
paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or
cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not
to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants &
children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster
seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick
up 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 and real butter and drank
koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! 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 O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride 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 Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video
games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or
DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no
personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE
HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and
ther e were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worm s 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 years have been 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 them . . . 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.
And 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 is 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?"
