LIFE IN THE GOOD TIMES
Which quote would you vote for?
1- “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.” (Victor Hugo)
3. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. (Henry Ford)
This is dedicated to all those people
who SURVIVED the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's
and to those who want to know what it was really like in those days!!!!
1A> 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 coloured, lead-based, paint. 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 when we went hitch-hiking.
1B> As children we rode in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared a soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no-one actually died from this. We ate cup-cakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were not overweight because we were always outside playing. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day but we were always OK.
1C> We would spend hours building our Go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill only to find out that we had forgotten 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, video games, no hundreds of channels on the TV, no cell-phones, mobiles, personal computers, no internet or chat rooms, no CD's, DVD's, movies, MP3 players, but we had many FRIENDS; and if not, we went out and found some.
2D> We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits or compensation from these accidents. We ate worms and mud from dirt and soil and the worms did not live in us for ever. We were given cowboy guns for our birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, made bows and arrows, and although we were told it would happen no one ever lost an eye. Yes, we got a few cuts and scrapes but we also learned to be brave too. We could take things apart, fix them, mend them, and put them back together successfully. We rode our bikes, or walked all the way, to a friend's house and we knocked on the door, or rang a bell, or just walked on in and talked to them. We played marbles in the Autumn, climbed trees, stole apples, and went on lots of school trips!!
2A> The Little League had try-outs in the local park and not everyone made the team. Those who did not make the team had to learn to deal with the disappointment, just imagine that!! We had competitions and strived for success; there were losers, and they strived to become better!! Sometimes we were really naughty and broke the law but we learned respect for authority and other people, and we accepted our punishments. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!! A sharp smack was the end of it, and it did no harm, we got the message and learned the lesson.
2B> If we were bored then we found something to do!! We didn't just sit around and say "Here I am, entertain me", we actually got up and did something using our own initiative. We were creative and developed our imaginations, we went exploring and learned about the world around us in safety. We always had plenty of things to do.
And so this older generation produced some of the best risk-taking problem-solvers and inventors ever!! This older generation produced so many academics, skilled workers, and responsible citizens. The past 55 years saw an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all, without the help of educationalists, psychiatrists, social workers, school mentors and too many welfare benefits.
If you are over 35 then congratulations, the "bad old days" never really did you any harm, and you are probably a much better person for that.
It Says a lot for the present generation, doesn't it? You might want to share these thoughts with others who have had the luck .... to grow up as real kids before
the Lawyers and the Government regulated our lives for our "own good",
and while you are at it, tell your kids too (so that they will know) just how brave their parents were!!
It Kinda makes you wanna run through the house with a pair of scissors, doesn't it?
Maybe those of you who were born in the 1980's and 1990's can learn something from this and will want to get back to your roots!!!
written in 1997
