First, we survived being born to mothers
Who 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 & 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 O.K.
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 PlayStations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!
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!
These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
and we learned how to deal with it all, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .
'I don't know about any of the rest of you, but this kinda make's me want to run through the house with scissors.'
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2 comments:
I have often spoken with friends about the radical changes that have come about in even the last 50 years. How we survived the pitfalls of childhood.
However, there are many kids who never grew up because of flying, head first through a windshield for one example.
So, as the article says, we survived. Well, we were the lucky ones I think.
Dennis,
I don't know if it was luck, or just that fact that shit happens or it doesn't. There are too many example's of what was right as opposed to what was wrong to even begin to assume that we have advanced to any degree as a human race.
I coached youth baseball and foot ball and was the President of the league for 3 years. Don't get me started on "everybody should get to play and everybody should get an MVP trophy" modern parent's. Geez, the grief those nitwit's caused myself and the league. For some reason they are accepting of the fact, that "Johnny" isn't Albert Einstein because he wasn't chosen for the State math competition. But the nitwit's will not accept that their little spastic is also not Joe G*d Da*n Montana just because they paid league fee's. "Mr. Burck, why don't you see that "Johnny" get's a tough guy skull and crossbones sticker for his helmet like some of the other boys?" Politically, because I was the President and all, I would reply, "When your mutt can get whacked in the mouth and not cry for 15 min., I'll see that he get's a tough guy skull and crossbones sticker for his candy ass helmet. Until that day comes, he can help out by making sure the warrior's get a Gator Aid when they come the field at half time."
A number of the parent's thought I was "too hard" and tried to get me kicked out of office when I made Adam go back in the Championship game after breaking his thumb, because we needed 4 yards for a first down on the last series of the game, and he got them for us. I don't know what the parent's damn beef was because we won the game in overtime and the coaches awarded Adam TWO tough guy skull and crossbones. You just can't make some folks happy.
Wade
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