Something to think about

[dcarter]

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,

WE ARE AWESOME !!!

OUR Lives are LIVING PROOF !!!

To Those of Us Born

1925 – 1975:

~~~~~~~~~

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

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, Nintendo’s 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 get spankings 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 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 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.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

Edited July 17, 2011 by ima45dv8

[whitedog]

Yup.......however did we survive?

[Chris iliff]

That explains so much! Thanks!!

[sqrlnts]

I think this may explain quite a bit

[Pat Miles]

I have told my son that it's a miracle that he is alive because it's a wonder that I lived through some of the stunts we pulled as kids and teenagers.

I think he understands after my telling him about some of those crazy stunts.

Pat

[sqrlnts]

I believe that those born before the 50's are a different breed. They have most def seen much harder times than those born after.

[foxriver6]

Amen!!!! ooops is that PC? LOL

[392heminut]

I NEVER EVER tell my son about stunts I pulled growing up! He comes up with enough stuff on his own.

[-JQ-]

I wear a helmet now...

not sure how I made it this far though.

I used to think hose water was the best

[tracker]

Listening to Black Sabbath (backwards and forwards) never told me to be evil.....

[Bwana Six-Gun]

It just goes to show, we may be the best generation. Kids nowadays do not know what fun really is. Computer games and TV can never replace skinny-dipping, drinking from a hose, playing chicken on bycicles, etc.

Life was good back then. I miss it in my old age.

[JeffWard]

I was born at the very end on the non-PC, safety-free, active-lifestyle generation... 1970.

My last "game-system" was an Atari II.

The only helmet I ever wore on a bike was my dad's snowmobile helmet when jumping my bike over a big rock.... age 12??? Not because it was safer, but because I felt like Evel Kenievel.

I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (3 at a time), washed down with whole milk, 2 hours before dinner... because that was what was in my house when I came home from school. The water supply to my house was the lake in front of it... and it was cleaner than the "city water" available 1 mile away... Recreation was taking a bolt-action 22 and a brick of shells into the woods to shoot apples, rocks, tree stumps, and occasionally squirrels. When my brother and I ran out of 22 shells, we'd shoot grasshoppers, IN FLIGHT, with B Guns... Daisy 1-pumps. When we got bored, we'd turn the BB guns on one another! No... I still have both eyes. Yes... I could hit a flying grasshopper at 10-12 feet pretty regularly!

Life was good...

There was a creepy old guy down the street who offered kids candy all the time. Our parents told us to stay away, because he was creepy. It he ever touched a kid, he'd have been shot, not put on a list.

Yes, we survived. If the world as we know it collapses all around us... I would hate to think of what will become of Generation X, Y, or D... They'll fold like lawn-chairs in a hurricane. I'll thrive... I'm almost looking forward to it... LOL

JeffWard

[whitedog]

Yup......I just do not understand the entitlement mentality. These people are screwed if we ever really encounter hard times. Whether natural or man made.

Edited July 21, 2011 by whitedog

[lugnut]

This makes me feel old... and kind of sad for my kids. I make them wear helmets and like to know where they are. But dammit I can't make them play outside all day like I did. I hate video games! My mother had to threaten to kill us to come in for dinner.. damn I do wish I had that energy again!

[dcarter]

This makes me feel old... and kind of sad for my kids. I make them wear helmets and like to know where they are. But dammit I can't make them play outside all day like I did. I hate video games! My mother had to threaten to kill us to come in for dinner.. damn I do wish I had that energy again!

I have 3 little ones of my own. Yes, we make them put on helmets and we have to know where they are but times have changed. Funny, but all of the crazy stunts I pulled when I was growing up, I never broke a bone. When the first video game was put in the local Rinks (Space Invaders) you had to stand in a line for probably an hour to play and then you had to beg your mom for the quarter to play. I must have seen Star Wars about 4 times (in the theater or the drive in). Our Saturday nights were spent at Frisches in the curb side delivery area watching the local hot rodders do circles in the drive and trying to pull wheelies orver the speed bumps while drinking a cherry Coke. You could still buy a bag full of candy for a dollar and gas was less than a dollar a gallon. Your mother cut your hair and if you had shoes on your feet it didn't matter if it had a designer SWOOSH across the side. You could still buy JARTS in the store.

I miss the old days. I just don't FEEL old.

[Youngeyes]

Sorry gang, but this is the reason I don't go to Lion's club meetings. Everyones glass here is half empty. I hated as a kid listening to these types of stories. To me getting old is starting to tell these types of stories. Have you ever heard a group of young adults(nod to PC here)start a conversation with "when I was younger..."? Enjoyed the thread opener very much just having trouble with the discussion part. JMHOO (just my humble OLD opinion).

Yup. Just rechecked. This is the What I Like section.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Youngeyes