Posted on 05/18/2005 9:07:02 AM PDT by LIConFem
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 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?!
The point of the post is that we all lived through times that had less safety features. Smoking is foolish,but it is not true that it will lead to deformed or really small children. Genetics and basic health play a greater role.
Safety can be good but what gets my goat it the govt usurping my parental right to make decsions. Like having 12 year olds in safety seats. I know women that are small ,should they be in a safety seat? If I choose not to wear seatbelt then that should be my decsion. If I wanted to let my child sleep in the back of a station wagon , I should be allowed to. I survived that, so will furture children.
I hate the having to wear helmet law. Sure it saves head injuries, but I hate wearing a helmet. I ride horses and refuse to wear a helmet when not competing. My choice to take that risk. Compared to the comfort the risk is minimal. However I do require any child to do so since less skill increases the risk.
That is the essence of freedom. to ,make thoses choices whether it is safe or not. Also for parents to make those choices for their own children.
"I remember when girls acted like girls."
Hah--you think YOU'RE old. I remember girls actually dressing like ladies instead of streetwalkers.
Pretty much true except for the worms.
I totally agree. :-)
Thanks for the ping.
Well, I guess poobear showed you. /sarc
Bump to your prior posts. There are more GOP boomers quietly knifing reform in the back than would ever let on as far as posting it to FR goes. It's all about 'getting their money back.' Never mind that it's their childrens' money and future getting stolen--the gimme generation is always gonna make sure it gets treated 'fairly,' which always seems to require f'ing America over somehow.
Flamebaiting is one thing boomers do exceptionally well.
They need only attempt to preach the 'virtues' of their generation to the victims thereof.
That's YOUR SON not the majority of kids today....
I remember in the mid seventies all the kids in our neighborhood would play "manhunt" on summer nights. Sort of like team hide and seek but with geographic bounderies like the creek, lake and road. It seemed like the summers were endless in those days.
Our neighborhood in Pennsylvania was very much like the one I grew up in - stay at home Moms, kids playing outside every day - coming to the back deck asking for something to drink - I guess there are more kids who actually play outside than what you might know....
LOL. Those Boomer Romeos probably watched too many screwball comedies where the guy and gal hate one another--and then end up in love by the end of the picture. They're just working on the first act. : )
Yeah, we were the last generation to have fun as kids! (kid in the 70's) Sending to my ll year old (of course he has email).
Come on - I never ate worms or dirt!
Rode my bike all over the place and never heard of a helmet. Used to walk for miles in neighbors' fields and no one knew where I was. I was fine.
But the part about mothers drinking and smoking while pregnant - that isn't good. I have a couple weird details that may be attributable to such maternal habits... Pregnant women should observe a few cautions.
Kids need to play outside or they, and everyone else, goes mad. What to speak of fat.
But in order for that to happen, child molesters need to be eradicated. Also remember that in "those days" rampant pornography did not exist.
hahahah sorry about the suit and bow tie to church CK
LCF: I hear ya...things have changed big time nowadays. The has it made a difference for the better......I don't think so.
I was still too young in the late 70's for this one, but I remember the older kids (like my brother and his friends) going pool hopping late at night on hot summer nights.
Got one of those darts stuck in my leg once.
I hate when that happens.
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