OT- THE LAST 50 YEARS...SO TRUE

Congratulations TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's 70's and early 80's !! 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 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 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 ***** 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 yelled for 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 inno vation 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?! PS -The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age

Man, that was awesome! Good times before people started wrapping their kids up in cotton wool - made me want to be a kid again, rather than just having the mental age of a kid.

great post. and guess what, i still live that way LOL. other than the airbag, childseat part.

That's the way I want my kid to grow up... get outside rather than being in front of the tv or a video game.... a sad state of affairs.

Excellent Post

And where we are today is a result of progress??? Makes me long for the days of my youth.

You also forgot we had no MICROWAVES and had to really cook food!!!

Great post! I still get nostalgic about riding with my mom in her 70�s AMC Gremlin � purple with black seats and a big block V8 � in the middle of July with no air conditioner holding the box of animal crackers she gave me to shut up. Also, the gas stations would give you a Hot Wheel car if mom filled up and the drive-up bank teller would give you a grape sucker with every withdrawal! Not to mention the hot A & W roller skate girl who delivered a tray of shakes and burgers to your car window. A far cry from the 20FT Lincoln Navigator with one kid in the middle of three rows and countless airbags zoning on a Sponge Bob DVD while mom gets her Venti Decaf Carmel Macchiato in the drive through.

Ok, first I like the post. But I was born in 1970, and played a LOT of video games. Atari 2600, Colecovision, Intellivision, not to mention all the games on my computers, C64, Apple II, Atari 800, Amiga, etc. (I didn't own all those, friends did, and we played and learned as a group oftentimes) Amiga had some awesome games by the time I was 16. But these are the places I also learned assembly language and Modula-2... skills which ultimately lead to P-car earning jobs... I also exercised and played sports. (swimming, soccer, skiing, etc. including HS teams.) But I was very good at Defender. God I love Defender. And Joust! Anyway. Video games are great. I can't wait till my kid is old enough to play with me. But that doesn't mean we won't also learn good old fashioned checkers and then lots and lots of chess. And we will play sports. And we will drive the Porsche. But then we will come home and play video games! Also, I had a microwave in my house from age 8, and we were not the first to get them on our block either...

OK, so I barely made it being early 80's. But I remember some of those times. Which is why I don't commute with my P-Car, I ride a bike (big clunky beach cruiser) to work because it makes me feel this way. And go out every morning and play in the water with a surfboard. Why? Beacuse sometimes life is better when its simple....and ...It makes up for sitting in front of these 2 oversized monitors all day.

GREAT Post...do you think it was better to grow up then or now? (generally speaking) What if you had a choice?

I'd still take my choice to grow up then... the education system was better, people took more self-responsibility and got off their asses and did stuff for themselves, rather than having a sense of entitlement.

Great post! My born-on date is 1968, and I can relate to all of those points!! I remember standing-up in the back of mom and dads 1976 Ford LTD wagon (with full fake wood trim) while they drove around. ....and yes, I ran around the house with scissors only because mom told me not to....

How many remember: 6 oz. Cokes and 12 oz. King Size, 5 and 10 cents. Davy Crockett Coon skin caps 1 B&W TV in the house Howdy Doody & Buffalo Bob Flash Gordon sitting around the fireplace listening to the radio TV dinners Flannel lined jeans Girls having to wear dresses to school Receiving BIG spankings Canvas water bags on your cars bumper dood to door vegetable sales riding in a car with the driver drinking a beer sitting on the tailgate of a station wagon while traveling at highway speeds never locking you car or house doors having to clean your plate owning 1 pair of shoes and 1 coat looking forward to eating in a restruant weekly allowance of 25 cents usually getting toys only on birthday or Christmas doing chores before playing it goes on and on...