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!

[LisaMalia]

Just a headsup to everyone. TVLand is having a Carol Burnett show marathon. Funny stuff!

[LisaMalia]

I knew you'd like that one! Besides the 45s, those silly comic books were my passion growing up.
I soooo hated Veronica, and always rooted for Betty to get Archie's attention...LOL

[depenzz]

It didn't kill me back then and I still eat it every now and then. ( I would eat it more but the government tells me its not good for me and I want to live to a ripe ole age) glad I didn't know how bad it was for us in the old days, I probably would have given it up lol. Here in PA its on the menue in the Mom and Pop type restaurants.
You don't like the stuff, huh? I would eat cardboard if it was prepared right. lol

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

LOL....true......

[missyme]

I know! I wish I saved all my 45's and Comic Books. My brother had all the super-hero comic books, Captain America, THOR the original Spiderman and when he finally sold them he made a ton!

[Riley]

I just know that for all the problems they had through-out the 60's and 70's it was the best time to grow up,

40s and 50s would have been good, too. My grandfather had a lot of fun growing up around the turn of the century. In fact, practically any time in America after things somewhat settled down after the Revolution, up to about the late 70s.

[missyme]

How about Blue Eyeshadow White Lipstick and writing whatever guy you were going with "name" all over your purse!

Had to throw the purse away when you sent him away! LOL

[Ben Bolt]

Down with risk adverse bureaucrats BUMP !

[Riley]

Comic book- "The Haunted Tank", an M3 Stuart fighting in WW2, that was haunted by the ghost of J.E.B. Stuart.

This was back before any mention of the Confederacy made people freak out.

[missyme]

My mom and grandparents had some great stories too!
My grandpa was bootlegging moonshine in Chicago then came to Santa Monica and made alot of money from some of the Moviestars back then. His stories are great!

[depenzz]

Funny how back then , like you said, we knew the rules and most of the time we did abide by them. We were well aware of the "end results" if we didn't.
I had both parents and they were super. They didn't do much with us, maybe it was because we were never in the house long enough to make arrangements with them.lol
Mom raised 7 kids and , know what, she never got "burned out" Have to brag a little here, we all turned out very well.
Good luck to you and yours and keep that positive approach to life.

[navygal]

My husband has all of the KISS albums, from when they first started until 1983

[missyme]

I agree we did know the rules. 4 kids in my family and we all came out to be decent human beings not to say we did not get caught up in some of the stuff going on back then, but we loved and feared our parents, was spanked with a wooden hanger and never thought for one moment about calling 911!

[Ben Bolt]

I'm going to make the time to play some stickball this weekend . You remember the baseball game called pickle ?

[navygal]

I remember when teachers could actually discipline the students, and when kids had problems with other kids they fought it out with their own fists instead of guns.

[Psycho_Runner]

Hmmm, You leave yourself open to such abuse. I think the monkeys were on drugs. And to top it off you're a buckeye fan.

All kidding aside, I was too cool to watch the monkeys until I turned forty. Recently I saw Davey Jones in concert at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk (Northern California). Anyway, the concert was free and has the draw of the crowd that still live in the sixties.

[missyme]

I Remember the first records I had were:
1. Pushing to Hard-By the SEEDS
2. 96 Tears Don't remember who sang that
3. San Francsico Nights-Eric Burdon and the Animals.
4. No Sugar Tonight-The Guess Who.

As well as albums of the groups "Yes" The James Gang. Poco Harem, Derek and the Dominoes LAYLA!

THE MUSIC WAS THE BEST! Nothing ever like it has happened again.

[Revel]

That is so funny. But ain't it the Truth...LOL

[navygal]

I remember when we had a pool in our back yard and my big brother would set up his stereo speakers next to the door and a bunch of us kids would be swimming an listening to My Shironna (sorry for the misspelling) from The Knack. We would also listen to allot of Cheap Trick.