PEOPLE OVER FORTY SHOULD BE DEAD

EMail | 1/17/2004 | W. Toeppe

[JesseHousman]

People Over 40 Should Be Dead

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. 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 seatbelts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode 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 would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.

NO CELL PHONES!!!!! Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms! . We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. 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 inside us forever. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home 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. Some students weren't! as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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.

How fortunate we were to grow up as kids before lawyers and burgeoning government regulated our lives, for our own good. How sorry I am for what those years of meddling have done to our children and grandchildren and even sorrier that we all allowed the government and politicians to get away with it!

[randog]

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.

Yup. Those were the days.

[Ol' Sox]

Jesse, this is so old that my mother emailed it to me from her retirement community in Florida.

[JesseHousman]

Bless her heart!

[BSunday]

Great Article. Ban the use of Federal Government as Father

[WinOne4TheGipper]

PEOPLE OVER FORTY SHOULD BE DEAD

Some of them really get on my nerves and all, but is this what you really want?;-)

[RoseofTexas]

OH MY GOODNESS! This literally brought back good memories and some tears this morn! We came from a poor but proud family, my brothers were constantly building their own kites and playing marbles outside. All 9 brothers and sisters would play outside, building houses from cardboard boxes, playing baseball and kickball. Oh my, now I'm longing for those simple days. Family was all that matter. I guess that's way I love to watch the black and white old movies. I need a kleenex..sniff! YEP, THEM WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.

[saluki_in_ohio]

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team

A couple of years ago, I went to a tee-ball game to watch my former girlfriends kid play. I was shocked to learn that they didn't keep score. I asked her "How do they determine the winner?", and she replied, "They do not have winners and losers in tee-ball", and I said, "Wow, I bet the liberals feel good about that!".

We didn't date too much longer.

[brityank]

Hey -- I resemble those kids!

Ping.

[1ofmanyfree]

Good post JH, Yes, just like the accidents we had as kids, we have no one to blame but ourselves. I do not believe these changes have been at all "accidental" though. We have allowed those who seek to control, the opportunity to do so. We reward them nicely too. Time for the pendulum to swing back toward center, back toward sanity and away from the nanny state mentality.

[LurkedLongEnough]

See what you have to look forward to...

[Lazamataz]

PEOPLE OVER FORTY SHOULD BE DEAD

Salam Alikum,

In the Qur’aan, we learn that if you make Shukr, Allah will most definitely increase His bounties upon you, especially after the age of 40. Also recite the du’aa, ‘Allaahumma ikfiniy bihalaalika an haraamika wa aghniniy bi fadhlika amman siwaaka’.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Lazamataz-al-Truble.

[JesseHousman]

Rose, after reading your comments I believe we would get along nicely.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Dittos!

[RightWingMama]

I was just thinking about this this morning. How funny, it's the first thing I see when I sat down at the computer.
Our precious granddaughter spent the night and everything we do has to be planned out because we can't just let her run and play like we did when we were children. It can be stressful trying to come up with ideas.
I remember saying "see ya later" to my Mom and out the door I went. I came home when I was hungry or it was getting dark.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I'd hate to be a kid today. Yes, I am over 40.

[The Wizard]

I cannot under score how right this is and how much today's kids are loosing because of all the mamby pamby BS and PC that is fosted on them.....

If America is ever needed in the out years, it won't have a chance.....

maybe this is the plan of the Chi comms or others: make us weak, make us think that America is "just like everywhere else" make us ashamed of our great spirit, make us think that we have no enemies and then take over a generation with no back bone and no ability to stand on it's own.

[EuroFrog]

Shoot, Im only 29 (as opposed to 40) and this is exactly what my childhood was like. Im desperatly trying to do the same with my kids. Kids learn quick, its either go outside and play or stay inside and help me clean the house.

[AppyPappy]

This is my son playing in a creek on our property. I sweat bullets when they are down there because I can't see them. Of course, when I was a kid, we played in a creek a mile from the house and my parents had no idea where we were playing.

Note: Yes that is a metal fireplace poker he is using for a walking stick. Call DSS on me.

[BSunday]

building houses from cardboard boxes

My sons still do these type of things. It's amazing what a kid can make with just a little imagination and no PS2 to sedate them.