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Posted by Tempus on June 21, 2003 at 12:07:19:
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's probably shouldn't have survived:
Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which as promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or
cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and
fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the
same.
We ate jam pieces, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with
sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside
playing.
We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one
actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of old prams and scraps and
then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the
brakes.
After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the
problem.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were
back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one
minded.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99
channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile
phones, no personal computers, and no Internet chat rooms.
We had friends - we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really
hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were
nolawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we
Learned o get over it.
We walked to friend's homes.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live
stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very
many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a
parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually
sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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're one of them. Congratulations!
Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to
grow up as real kids, before lawyers and government
regulated our lives, for our own good.
(If you aren't old enough, thought you might like to
read about us!).
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