Remember the Baby Boomers!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing 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, bread and 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 street lights 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 99 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no computers, no iPad, no iPhone, no iPod, 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 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 in us forever. 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!
Our 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 if you born in the 50s or 60s 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.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
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Breaks? what's that? Wash the blood off with the garden hose, then get a drink from it. HEY! It's my trun to go down the hill AGAIN!!!
And don't forget Polio was caused from jumping into cold water when you were hot.
...and we set up the platform for today's generation to move on from! I don't think they realise or appreciate that!
Love it ... lol ... and every word true (except I drew the line at eating worms) though kinda makes me feel Old ... lol
Good point. We did survive and thrived. Too bad the "echo boom" haven't shared the same experiences. Talk about a generation gap!
I am one of these and I remember! This is a great post and so real! I think life was more "real" then. Your writing is terrific! Love the last sentence! LOL
This is so true. Loved that garden hose sippin'. . Many parents now shelter their kids from disappointment and these kids will have a rude awakening when they hit the real world.
Love the post. I love a bit of nostalgia.
It's easy to look at the past through rose tinted glasses but I agree with you - we had freedoms and opportunities to experience things which for all the technological, sociological, environmental and educational advances - young people could only dream of.
When I was 7 - I took a 10 minute walk to the railway station, 15 minute train journey 1.5 mile walk the other end - by myself to get to school and repeated the journey on the way home. It was the norm as you say.
However, children today live in much more comfort, they have access to far more information and have much more choice.
I think most generations - think theirs was the best!
Ahh, those were the days my friend we thought they would never end. Hey we could make a song out of that. Oh they already did. I still try to live that way. Very nice blog
See you around.
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Great post, worth sharing for sure.