~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratulations to all of you friends born in the
1920’s, 30’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s !
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses
made of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products,
loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can,
and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
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 or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took
hitch-hiking!
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or
air bags.
Riding in the back of an estate or a pick up truck on a
warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from
a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza
shops, McDonalds, KFC, Steers, Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn’t
open on the weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to
death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one
bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at
the corner shop and buy Chappies, Wilson ’s Toffees,
Wicks Bubble Gum and some crackers to blow up frogs
with.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank
soft 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 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.
We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in
river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no
video games at all, no 99 channels on sky TV, or cable
TV, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile
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 compensation claims or lawsuits from these
accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the
worms did not live in us forever.
We swallowed chewing gum & it didn’t wrap round our
hearts like we were told it would !
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at
Easter time…….no really!
We were given pellet guns and catapults for our
10th birthdays!!
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked
on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn’t have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
RUGBY and CRICKET had trials and not everyone made it
into the team. Those who didn’t get in had to learn to deal
with disappointment…… Imagine that!
Getting into the team was based on MERIT and not due to
some phoney social fear of traumatising us through fear of
rejection !
Our teachers used to belt us with the back of their hand, big
sticks, rulers, canes or leather straps.
Bully’s always ruled the playground at school.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was
unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn’t invent stupid names for their kids like
“Kiora” and “Blade” and “Ridge” and “Vanilla” .
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 70 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 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.
Keep it up,
