Congratulations to all my friends who were born in the 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and the early 1980s - First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and we didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.Even though all the stores closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!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 soft drinks 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 old scraps and strollers, then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with Matchbox cars.We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video game, no 999 channels on cable, no videos or DVDs, no mobile 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.Only girls had pierced ears!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.We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!Mom didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!Baseball and Football had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT.Our teachers used to hit us with rulers and bully's always ruled the playground at school.The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.They actually sided with the law! And our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'.These generations 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 if YOU are one of them - CONGRATULATIONS!This was the way we were before lawyers and government began regulating our lives, which ended the most extraordinary coming of age era ever in American history.Source: emailReposted from Pragmatic Witness
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