Those of You Born
Before 1970
At the end of this Email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.
If you don't read anything else, please read his words.
Very well stated, Mr. Leno.
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,
locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children, we rode in cars with no car seats,
no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires
and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose
and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle
and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon..
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar
and, we weren't overweight. WHY?
Because we were always outside playing...that's why!
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, and, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps.
And then ride them 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 Play Stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
no cell phones, no personal computers,
no Internet and no 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.
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,
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 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 .
While you are 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 ?
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another,
and with the threat of swine flu and terrorist attacks,
Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the
Pledge of Allegiance?'
