Message from an old friend

Mino

Northern Dreamer
TO THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 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.


They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't

get tested for diabetes.


Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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, bread and butter and drank soda pop

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. 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 99 channels on cable, no video

tape movies, no surround sound, no cell 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 lawsuits from these accidents.


We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate

worms and although we were told it would happen, we

did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live

in us forever.


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!


This generation has 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!


And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! Please pass

this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as

kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated

our lives for our own good.


Kind of makes you want to run through the house with

scissors, doesn't it?!
 
Re: Message from an old friend

lump in my throat. really. 'those were the days' - isn't that what every generation says?

i have a child due in sept (my first) and wonder what life in the future will be like for her/him. :-/
 
Re: Message from an old friend

almost that whole list applies to me. even the little league tryouts! i totally sucked. i didn't eat worms though.
 
Re: Message from an old friend

nobody ate worms!....those were just illusionist who grew up and made alot of money.
 
Re: Message from an old friend

[quote author=mino link=board=Offtopic;num=1108774265;start=0#6 date=02/18/05 at 18:37:39]nobody ate worms!....those were just illusionist who grew up and made alot of money.[/quote]
Obviously, neither of you (KOVAROVA, Mino) had little brothers. ;D
 
Re: Message from an old friend

[quote author=pookie link=board=Offtopic;num=1108774265;start=0#7 date=02/18/05 at 20:22:06]
Obviously, neither of you (KOVAROVA, Mino) had little brothers. ;D[/quote]

That made me think of comedian Louie Anderson's lines about his parents telling him about the monster that lived in the swamp behind his house. He said it scared him until he got, "a little older, a little smarter and a little brother". :D
 
Re: Message from an old friend

[quote author=Dakota link=board=Offtopic;num=1108774265;start=0#9 date=02/18/05 at 20:32:42]I ate worms... The chicks were digging it... I was cool.[/quote]


You musta been a little brother. ;)
 
Re: Message from an old friend

[quote author=KOVAROVA link=board=Offtopic;num=1108774265;start=0#11 date=02/18/05 at 20:38:05]i had a little sister.. she ate dog food. [/quote]


That's mean.......starving the poor dog. :-/
 
Re: Message from an old friend

first she played with it then ate it. i never had to feed the dog thanks to her.
 
Re: Message from an old friend

Geez, I remember playing with Mercury in my hand, rolling it around in my palm, rubbing it on nickels to make them shiny, then going to lunch and eating a sandwich. You used to be able to buy a little jar of mercury at toy stores in the chemistry set dept. Now, if someone breaks a real Mercury thermometer in a hospital, they close off the wing, and bring in the EPA in special suits to clean up the mercury. So far, I'm still alive. But it definitely makes me wonder...
 
Re: Message from an old friend

I used to run around with cooking pots on my head with friends of mine. We'd drive my mother nuts by dropping frying pans in the kitchen and then screaming as if hurt. It never got old.
 
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