First, we survived being born to
mothers who smoked and/or drank while they
carried us.
They took
aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, 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, white bread and real 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
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!
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.
and
while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave
their parents were.
Kind
of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!