Dedicated to those born 1930-1979

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You've probably seen this before (or a variation), but I feel like I have to post it anyway. Kids these days strike me as pathetic by comparison - not to pat ourselves on the back, but quite conversely to maybe give our generation a wake-up call and take parenting and/or being the "grownups" a bit more seriously so that maybe the lardass kids today might benefit from it. If it means a little "tough love" is in order - so be it!



This is dedicated to those Born 1930-1979!


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 pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle - and liked it. 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. There were no mobile phones. If we needed to call mom for something, we found a pay phone or asked to use someone else's.

And we were O.K. And our parents knew it. If they didn't hear anything from us or the hospital, they assumed we were fine, even though they hadn't seen us all day.

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 , CD's or Ipods, no cell phones! , no personal computers , no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS (who were actual human beings we'd physically seen before) 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 swallowed our gum.


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 their 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're 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?!?!

(I did that one too).

[widebody911]

+1

[gassy]

Great post man.
Christian.

[Seahawk]

This post is discriminating...my lawyer we be in touch

I run with scissors!

[Jims5543]

We went to a "Touch a Truck" event at the local park last Saturday. We took our 3 y/o to see firetrucks etc..

I decided we would take the Porsche. Well, the booster seat did not fit so I put him in the back seat, put on his seatbelt and drove him over to the park. About 2 miles away. My wife was a nervous wreck.

I simply pointed out that I survived the 60's without a car seat I am sure my son will survive 2 miles.

[sammyg2]

LOL, I can remember standing up in the middle of the bench seat between my parents in the station wagon and I never once got hurt from it. Today they would probably both go to prison for that.

My dad bought an old international pick up truck so he could haul all the kids on his little league team around. he would go pick up almost all of them at their houses, and then drop them off after practice or games. And.... get this.... all the kids rode in the back of the truck..... and no one got sued. Go figure.

[Billbo]

I used to sit in the front seat between mom and dad. Mom would shell peanuts and hand them to me, I then handed them over to dad who was driving. Dad would wash the peanuts down with a quart bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Took 2 quarts and a half pound of peanuts to get to grandma's house. None of use wore seat belts. Dad outran a small town city cop once while this was going on. Just outrageous!

[gassy]

My dad let me steer the car when I was 4 or 5. Boy was it fun. A white Peugot! Wish I had a pic.
Chriatian.

[nota]

I rode in the back of a 356 on the carpet
no seat belt or seat

[Taz's Master]

Which were the generations that as adults eliminated those aspects of childhood?

[motion]

Great stuff, but....

My grandparents idea of an annual vacation was 6 days on the road sleeping in the back of the station wagon.

My grandparents did not take vacations to Hawaii, Paris or Rome.

My grandparents retired to their kid's lazy-boy in the corner or a mobile home (not mine personally, but many during this generation)

My grandparents life expectancy was 10 years less than mine.

My grandparents breadth of knowledge of this world was maybe 1/4 what mine is.

My grandparents had tough lives and tough times dealing with the pain of getting older.

My point is that even with all the negatives of growing up today, we have an incredible quality of life that our grandparents could only dream of. I suspect/hope that our kids will be even more worldly, healthy and comfortable than us!

[syncroid]

I survived! LOL Good post.

[HardDrive]

When I was 12 years old, I wanted a BB gun. Parents refused to give me one, saying it was too dangerous.

Instead, they bought me a 12 guage shotgun (Remington model 31, still have it), and put me in a hunters safety course.

They were right.

[on2wheels52]

Only BB guns I knew of belonged to cousins. Can remember being four and us kids (I was the youngest of 5) shooting a .22 at cans behind the corn crib with Dad. I can't remember what age I was turned loose with it, probably 9 or so. Hey, and I never killed any of my classmates or teachers! Kids today must be much more advanced than I was.

Jim

[Billbo]

Another dad event: Dad was a high school principal. During duck hunting season the farm kids would ride the bus to school along with their shotguns. After school they would hunt. Dads rule was that they had to keep the shotguns in their locker during school. Everyone was aware that they would lose their duck hunting rights (shotgun) if they screwed up. Can anybody imagine that today?

[Eric-325I]

I survived most of the above and in addition:

I survived in the most liberal and feminist household I have ever heard of (here in the mid-west). And the best part, all of us 'kids' but one grew up to be ardent conservatives (not Republicans... conservatives :-)).

[Christien]

Ok, maybe I'm just a little sensitive to this whole issue because we have a 4 month old (our first) and we keep hearing this crap from our parents - "oh, we didn't have this fancy safety device when I was a kid and we turned out fine" or "we fed you kids this or that and you turned out fine". Sure you turned out fine, but lots of other kids didn't.

Deaths per 1,000 live births:
1950: 29.2
2003: 6.9

(source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0779935.html)

While I agree that we're far too over-the-top with safety BS in a litigation-crazy society, at least some of these safety advances have made a difference.

(BTW, I blame my parents dunking my soother in brandy when I was a baby for the fact that I'm only 5'7! )

[VaSteve]

When I was 5, I used to get a ride to school in the back of a beetle. I could sit on the package shelf under the rear window. The smell never leaves you.

[trekkor]

born in '68 thank you.

Good post!


KT

[slodave]

Rode in the trunk of a car.

Spent many summers riding in the back of a cattle truck on the highway for 2.5 hrs to summer camp on top of the luggage.

Held bottle rockets(some blew up around our hands) and had firecracker wars.

As a baby, I would be in the infant carrier sitting in the passenger footwell.

Sat in my dad's lap and drove his 912 on the freeway - no seat belts.

Ahh, the list goes on and on... Still here!