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
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, doors or cabinets and when
we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took
hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats,
booster seats, 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 koolade made with sugar, 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no
surround-sound,
CD's
or
Ipods,
no
cell! phones!
,
no personal computers , no Internet or 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!
These
generations have 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!
Has there ever been a generation who didn't believe the world was going to hell? Well, I can remember my dad saying he's glad I didn't have to go through what he went through (Great Depression, WWII)...but as he got older, he didn't approve of much of what he saw. I wouldn't trade places with someone in a younger generation for any gifts the gods might offer. Not being raised on TV might be the greatest accidental blessing of my birth. But it was also very cool, as I've said here before, to be a teenager at the birth of rock and roll. See Birthing Little Richard.
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