TO ALL US KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's 40's, 50's - WE WERE OK
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they
were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate high fat dressing and tuna from a can.
We were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright
colored
lead-based paints.
When we rode our bikes we had no helmets.
We did not fear we would be kidnapped when we were hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster
seats,
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 plastic bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one
actually got sick or died.
We ate cupcakes with icing, white bread and lots of real butter and drank
koolade made with sugar 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 OK.
We would spend hours building a go-cart out of any old wheels and scraps of
wood and then ride down the nearest hill.
We did not have television, Play-stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video
games
at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no
surround-sound,
CD's or I-pods, no cell phones!, no personal computers and no Internet. We
made our own entertainment using our imagination. And we used our
imagination
to envision what was happening in our favorite programs on the radio.
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.
We were given BB guns or a .22 rifle for our 10th birthdays and we did not
put
out any eyes or kill anybody like our mother said we would.
We played hockey in the middle of the street with sticks, tin cans and
clamp-on roller skates and nobody got hit by a car.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and yelled for him to come out
or
knocked on the door, rang the bell, or just walked in.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't
had
to learn to deal with disappointment with no interference from outraged
parents. Imagine that!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They
actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers
and inventors ever! The past 50 years have seen an explosion of innovation
and
new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned
how to deal with it all!
We were OK.
If YOU, are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!
--
Rolex
"May Dragon Fly Ever in your Dreams"
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