TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the
1930's40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First,
we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or
drank while they
carried
us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't
get tested for
diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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
children, we would ride in cars with no 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, bread and butter and drank soda pop
with sugar in it, 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
99
channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround
sound, no cell
phones,
no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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 these accidents.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate
worms and although we
were
told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes,
nor did the
worms
live in us forever.
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!
This generation has 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!
And 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 our
lives for our own
good.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!