Sunday, June 14, 2009

Congratulations are called for here.....


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! 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 child proof 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 Kool-aid 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 OK.


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 computers, no Internet or chatrooms.......


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 poke 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!

7 comments:

Nessa said...

Someone sent me this in an email once.

Anonymous said...

Can you imagine we are still living to tell our stories with all this happening to us? The youth of today...you missed out on the experiences of life :)

A Lady's Life said...

lol Ya I miss being a kid.
It was great in those days.
It was a slower pace of life and I think sometimes it was better this way than it is today when they force you to speed up considerably. lol
Have a good one:)

Voegtli said...

I am proud to be one of them. And not even scared to think about the dangerous life we led. And ask myself the question: How did we survive?

George said...

What a wonderful message. I'm happy to say that I am one of the survivors. I can remember playing outdoors with friends practically all day on weekends. Today's kids don't know what they are missing.

A Lady's Life said...

Thanks George.

Rubaiyat J. Malek said...

Born in the 80's and growing up in a developing country, where all the technological advancements (video games, PCs and such)took either too long to reach or were too expensive to afford, I have had the privilege to do all that you have mentioned in your post...

Not being advanced turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me :)