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The Good "Old" Days
My daughter just emailed this to me. I couldn't resist posting it here.
Please pass it on! And congratulations to those who survived!
To all the kids who survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! (and those who know them)...
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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 soda pop with sugar in it, 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 okay.
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, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games at all, less than 99 channels and no cable, no video-tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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!
This generation has 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!
And YOU are one of them! 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 our lives for our "own" good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. ...Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
The Good Old Days, jdkiggins
Please pass it on! And congratulations to those who survived!
To all the kids who survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! (and those who know them)...
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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 soda pop with sugar in it, 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 okay.
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, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games at all, less than 99 channels and no cable, no video-tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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!
This generation has 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!
And YOU are one of them! 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 our lives for our "own" good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. ...Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
The Good Old Days, jdkiggins
posted by Joanne |
11:10 PM |
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8 Comments:
So much truth in there, Joanne. So much truth....
A trip down memory lane. Yep, we survived. Amazing, huh? hehe
Great post, Joanne.
Jason, yes there is a lot of truth in there. I couldn't resist posting it. :)
Thanks, Jeff. Yes, it is amazing. I learn new survival techniques each day. :D
Man, I hate to be the cynical voice, but...
We grew up when black kids went to a different school, and had to call us sir, even though we were only 11. Lets not even consider how much life is better for them now, just how much life is better for us because we know them.
We grew up when a man with long hair or a woman with short hair were considered dangers to society. Our mothers smoked, and our friends sometimes died of the measles, or came down with polio, or bled to death when they had their tonsels removed.
Kids down the street died as heroes in Vietnam, such heroes that we no longer remember their names,and neither does anyone else who wasn't there with them. Thousands of people died before we padded the dashes on cars and put in seatbelts, including quite a few kids who broke their mother's protective arms as they flew through the windshield.
Hundreds of thousands of kids who never made the team in Little League spent their adult lives working menial jobs because they felt good enough, even though their personal strengths might have been in art or music, not athletics. Some of those kids killed themselves before they grew up. Lead based paint? Medicine bottles without childproof tops? Hitchhiking?
It is a wonder any of us survived. Let's not get too nostaligic for the good old days, they really weren't all that good to begin with.
Mark,
You’re right; the good old days were not all that good. I said I couldn’t resist posting an e-mail that had been sent to me; I didn’t say I was filled with nostalgia and wishing those days back. I wouldn’t want to relive any of my life—in those times or these. ;)
Thanks for cynicism you’ve written. It’s given me several ideas to write about on my blog. ;) I’ll start with smoking. ;)
Great post and comments. The thing we should consider as the #1 take away from that email is getting outside, playing with friends - and it's good advice for all ages. I think more play would serve us all well.
I agree, Dawno. Getting outside would be great! These four walls are closing in on me. Playing with friends would add even more incentive. I'll make sure I put that on my list of things "to do". :D