I came across this and thought some people here would enjoy it. PEOPLE OVER 30 SHOULD BE DEAD According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have survived. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. 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 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. We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't 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. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 199 channels on cable, DVD movies, THX 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 very many 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 a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the teachers and 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.
What's really lethal to 30 year-olds, is when they are made to 'go on carousel'. (Bonus points to anyone who can name the movie.)
I totally agree. Too bad we make such lousy parents that we bring up children without these traits. And for the edification of others, seeing as you have already figured this out, an immune system is only as good as the practice it gets. If you live in a sterile environment and don't give your white blood cells enough practice, the moment you step into a non-sterile environment - you're FUCKIN DEAD. .02, RLB
great post - agree ... imagine hey those of us who had go carts and all the rest of it, we survived! go carousel, that's logan's run and i like the original dvd version .. where's jennifer? (she was in american werewolf too).. probably a good analogy, in that world they were all insulated with movies and utopia like many kids today, vs rough n tumble outdoors play like most of us over 30's (or almost 40 like me) grew up in. best innovation and work ethic, comes from having to learn to take a few falls and get right up, brush yourself off, start right over again (bonus points to who knows the jazz singer w/that song).
awesome post.....SO true too....we keep trying to improve what wasn't;t broken.....Although, If my dad hit me today like he did in 1975 he's be in Jail!
Yeah, it's amazing that we survived,.............only to become todays bureaucrats and regulators!!!!
Yeah, and I could have had my father jailed for hitting and other "child abuse". Imagine my and my two brothers stuffed in the back seat of a Volkswagen Beetle, mom in the front seat, maybe even a dog or two in there with us, cold in the winter, so the windows were closed, and the old man smoking a half pack of Parliaments on the way to Grandma's house. My mother never smoked....guess she got used to it over the years. (Guess which one is still alive). Don't know how we lived. And all the stuff in Magna's post....so accurate! Peace, RS
The part about fights is so true too...when i was a teenager, if you lost a fight you didn't show up at school for a day or two...now the parents call the principal and the cops and press charges !!!!
Is this a boast? "never lost one" can mean a person is smart enough to have avoided fights, lucky enough to have only been in fights they could win, or so tough that they had a lot of fights and won them all, which would imply they pretty much had to be looking for fights, which takes a certain "type". As I remember childhood, it was the kids that got beat up by the bullies that got the respect. For standing up to them and taking it. It was the not backing down that counted. NO ONE looked up to the "toughest" kids. On the other hand, I grew up in New York. I wouldn't be surprised if things were a lot different in Texas! Peace, RS