Good news: we survived

Enjoy!   

I Can't Believe We Made It!

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in
the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early 80's, probably shouldn't
have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.

We had no childproof lids or locks 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 pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but
we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one soft drink with four friends , from one bottle, and no one
actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode 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 would leave home in the morning and play all day , as long as we were back
when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell
phones. Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no
99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell
phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out
of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from
these accidents . They were accidents. No one was to blame but us.  Remember
accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to
get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it
would happen , we did not put out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home 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. 

Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were
held back to repeat the same grade.
Horrors!  

Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of  parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in school or broke a
law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or the law. Imagine
that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers,
and inventors, ever. 

We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility ---  and we learned how
to deal with it. And you're one of them!
Congratulations.

Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before
lawyers and government regulated our lives for our own good !!!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> I Can't Believe We Made It!
>
> According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us
> who were kids in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the
> early 80's, probably shouldn't have survived.

I was born in '77. I was just old enough to see the freedom
my brother's generation enjoyed. If you were a teen in 1981
you could pretty much do anything. Your biggest fear was your
parents, not the cops.

One of the biggest changes I can remember is the advent of
open container rules. We'd go down to North Carolina for
short summer vacations every-other year. Even into the early
90's, my Dad would sometimes have a beer in the cup holder
of the car! It maybe wasn't a good idea, but it wasn't all
that uncommon.

I'm not aware of any general reduction in alcohol-related
accidents. Of course, there are more drivers on the same
roads (pretty much since Ike built them) these days.

I was all grown up before cell phones made it. I see kids
going around with phones and it gives me the creeps.

-Carl