How true...
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids
in the 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 nochildproof 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 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 wood scraps fruit crates 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 by cell phone. 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 neighborhood friends! We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We played other games such as Kick the Can and Capture the Flag. 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.
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
ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out
very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever. We rode bikes or
walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or
just walked in. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Some of us weren't as smart as others, so we 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, no one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
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! 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.
July, 2002
Charlie
