BORN BEFORE 1986?
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who
where kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't
have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly
coloured Lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on
doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode
our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent
'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags
and riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from
the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.
We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with
sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always
outside playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one
bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then
went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the
brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we
learned to solve the problem.
We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as
long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach
us and no one minded.
We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all.
No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no
mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet
chatrooms.
We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played
elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We
fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law
suits.
We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the
owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe
it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to
drive us to school, which was just round the corner.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in
packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a
parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they
actually sided with the law.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and
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're one of them.
Congratulations!
hhahah ,.. this just sumed up my child hood !!!...ahhh the good 'ol days.
