growing up

[Glennbear]

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 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 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 ate cupcakes, white bread and real 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 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.

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 60 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 !!!!

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.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

[DaveO]

That's great. As a father of a 4 year old, I wonder how I survived childhood, and what has made her life so dangerous

Dave

[TracyP]

Man, you must have typer cramp after that post. But it is amazing how we all survived. I am 46 and I am relatively healthy even after all of the bumps and bruises I got. Maybe all of the new safety features we have now are actually detrimental to our safety. Great Post. Thank you.

[RayH]

Glenn,

How will all of these youngsters manage???
Probably will take more s

Great post,
RayH

[Trent Mason]

Man, you guys are old.

Just kidding. Very good post! I work with some older guys and they are my favorite people to hangout with.

Trent

"We used to walk 12 miles to school in the snow, up hill both ways."

[AndyBarnhart]

I remember one time going dove hunting with a friend. We were hunting the hills along a creek near our house and were not finding many birds, so we went further down the trail than we had before. We started up a side trail to go up to a hill top when we hit a string that shook some jars with ball bearings in them. A big man in overalls carrying a shotgun came down the trail.
"What you boys doin'?"
"Huntin'"
"Whacha huntin'?"
"Birds."
"Ain't no birds on this mountain."
"OK."
We went back the way we came. I had an armed confrontation with a criminal at age 14 and I walked away with my back turned. I cannot imagine anything like that happening today.


Paddle faster - I hear banjo music!

[RayH]

Andy,

Did you grow up in Tennessee or Georgia??

RayH

[AndyBarnhart]

Originally Posted by RayH

Andy,

Did you grow up in Tennessee or Georgia??

RayH

Excellent guesses! This particular incident happened just outside Rocky Face, Georgia, maybe 20 miles south (as a sober crow flies) from the Tennesse line.