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- Jan 13, 2009
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How did we survive!!!
If you lived and grew up as a child in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's
Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we
have...
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a
special treat.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We
had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets.
When we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention hitchhiking
to town as a young kid!)
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!
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 streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us
all day. Our parents knew that all the neighbors would watch out for
all the kids. No cell phones. Unthinkable!
We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt.
We got cut and broke bones and broke 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 ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda, but we were
never overweight... we were always outside playing. We shared one
grape soda with four friends, from one bottle and no one died from
this.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games at
all, 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal
cell phones, Personal Computers, Internet chat rooms ... we had
friends. We went outside and found them.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or
rung the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Imagine such a
thing. Without asking a parent! By ourselves! Out there in the cold
cruel world! Without a guardian.
How did we do 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.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment.... The teams
actually kept score and the winning team was allowed to be excited and
the losing team learned to be good sports about it and learned that,
in life - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
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.
Almost no one went to "pre-school" and when we graduated high school
we all knew how to read, use proper grammar and do basic math. We all
learned how to count out change without a calculator to tell us the
amount.
The worst problems in school were tardiness and chewing gum in class.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide
behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was
unheard of. They actually sided with the law ... imagine that!
If you misbehaved - your parents spanked you and no one arrested them
for doing that! We also learned that when a parent said "No" - they
actually meant that and our lives would not be ruined forever by being
denied every little thing we wanted at any given moment.
New toys were received on birthdays and holidays..... not on every
trip to the store. Parents gave us gifts out of love.... not out of
guilt.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem
solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years has been an explosion
of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and
responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
And you're one of them.
Congratulations!
If you lived and grew up as a child in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's
Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we
have...
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a
special treat.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We
had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets.
When we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention hitchhiking
to town as a young kid!)
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!
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 streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us
all day. Our parents knew that all the neighbors would watch out for
all the kids. No cell phones. Unthinkable!
We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt.
We got cut and broke bones and broke 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 ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda, but we were
never overweight... we were always outside playing. We shared one
grape soda with four friends, from one bottle and no one died from
this.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games at
all, 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal
cell phones, Personal Computers, Internet chat rooms ... we had
friends. We went outside and found them.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or
rung the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Imagine such a
thing. Without asking a parent! By ourselves! Out there in the cold
cruel world! Without a guardian.
How did we do 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.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment.... The teams
actually kept score and the winning team was allowed to be excited and
the losing team learned to be good sports about it and learned that,
in life - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
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.
Almost no one went to "pre-school" and when we graduated high school
we all knew how to read, use proper grammar and do basic math. We all
learned how to count out change without a calculator to tell us the
amount.
The worst problems in school were tardiness and chewing gum in class.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide
behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was
unheard of. They actually sided with the law ... imagine that!
If you misbehaved - your parents spanked you and no one arrested them
for doing that! We also learned that when a parent said "No" - they
actually meant that and our lives would not be ruined forever by being
denied every little thing we wanted at any given moment.
New toys were received on birthdays and holidays..... not on every
trip to the store. Parents gave us gifts out of love.... not out of
guilt.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem
solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years has been an explosion
of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and
responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
And you're one of them.
Congratulations!
