TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
#236363 - 01/06/06 03:56 PM
|
|
|
|
Shell Marr
Reged: 08/04/03
Posts: 14959
Loc: Seattle, WA USA
|
|
|
Just got this in an email from Shane.... this is so true!!
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs 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 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 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 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 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or 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 balls 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 walked in and talked to 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!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, 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!
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 so much of our lives
for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
--------------------
www.facebook.com/shell.marr
www.myspace.com/shellmarr
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
Yep, the 40's!
#236367 - 01/06/06 04:13 PM
|
|
|
|
Bevvy
Reged: 11/04/03
Posts: 5918
Loc: Northwest Washington State
|
|
|
OMG, this was like a trip down Memory Lane. Times were so incredibly different then. I remember jumping on my bicycle in the morning and just taking off, ending up God Knows Where, and coming back at dinner time. Nobody knew where I was and nobody gave a damn.
I remember running naked through the woods in Maine. Nobody knew and nobody cared. It was wonderful. God only knows why I wasn't eaten alive by a bear!
I remember swimming in the lake from sun-up to sun-down, stopping only long enough to fix myself a sandwich for lunch, and it was always white bread with marshmallow fluff spread between the slices and potato chips on the side. Nutrition? What's THAT? Who cared?
Oh, and eggs were always fried every morning in a big can of bacon grease kept on the stove. Chicken too! Damn them's good eatins!
We used to wash our bodies, our hair and our clothes in the lake because we didn't have a bath tub or shower or laundry. It was what everyone did back in Maine. Nobody even had an electric refrigerator; we had ice boxes and an ice delivery man came around in his woodie truck and delivered it to the front porch where the ice box was kept.
And of course there were no toilets; we had outhouses. Good times, ah yeah...
And yes, everybody smoked. We had a fancy little silver cup on the coffee table filled with cigarettes, sitting next to the matching ash tray and cigarette lighter. Everyone had one on their coffee tables; it was THE THING. And the first thing you offered your guest was a cigarette -- and they took it.
Them was good days, good days....
Thanks Shell, thanks for the memories....
Bevvy
P.S.: I wouldn't wanna go back to those days if my life depended on it!
--------------------
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
But yes... even in the '70s, things were so different, eh? I can still relate to (and remember) a lot of that, and I know I'm lucky. I even had friends in high school who looked at me like I had 3 heads when I said that I actually grew up playing outside with my brothers & neighbors, independent from constant supervision, getting in the dirt and playing make-believe with rusty junk we found in the woods!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
It's sort of funny really - an American woman was pregnant in my class here in Scotland, and the Europeans thought she was nuts with the whole 'no caffene' thing - not to mention the million other precautions that she was taking. I mean, they obviously wouldn't say drinking and other obvious things were alright, but weren't quite as paranoid about every possible little thing.
- Vincent
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
--------------------
~~~Lisa~~~
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
What an awesome post -- it really brings back a lot of childhood memories.
1) I don't remember this one, but my Dad says he was working on the roof of my grandmother's two-story house and I climbed up when I was about 3 years old and ran around up there all day. Nowadays, heights scare me. ;-)
2) We used to have an old swimming hole out back. Since we had no swim wear we'd just get nekkid and jump in. And yes, there were leaches. Ow, they have sharp little teeth. :-)
3) My gramma used to have a cow that she would milk and she would feed me cream right out of the bucket. Oh, would Louis Pasteur roll around in his grave.
4) This is a bad one which I would NEVER let kids do these days, but I used to play with a 22 caliber rifle when I was 5 years old. I was not even strong enough to aim it - I would have to rest the barrel on a fence. Strangely enough, I understood the consequences and never goofed off with it.
I've never really given it much thought, but boy have times changed! I'm glad you posted this, Shell.
Warm regards,
Evil Cats
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
Posts
