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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 cots were covered with bright- coloured,
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.
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 cakes, white bread and real butter, and drank fizzy drinks 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, no
99 channels on 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 toy 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!
Junior football and netball
teams had tryouts, and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to
learn to deal with disappointment without counselling. 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.
Makes you want to run
through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
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