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 pickup 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 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, video games, 99 channels on cable, video
tape movies, surround sound, cell phones, personal computers, 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?!
