If you lived 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, and 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.
>
>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..... 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.
>
>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!
>
>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! |
