Lucky Generations
FIRST, we survived being born to mothers who may have 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 childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,
and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our
heads.
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster
seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck 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, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made
with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY?
BECAUSE WE WERE always outside playing...that's why! 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 OKAY.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them 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 Play Stations,
Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no
video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal
computers, no Internet and no 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 those accidents. We would getspankings with wooden spoons, switches,
ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to
report abuse.
We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us
forever.
We wer e 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!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers,
and inventors ever. The past 50 to 85 years have seen 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 those born between 1925-1970, 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 so much of our lives
for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will
know how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it
The quote of the month by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding,
severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with
the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to
take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" For those that prefer to think that
God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us..... please pass this on.