Chery
Feb 24, 2006, 12:19 PM
SMILE OF THE WEEK
(contributions for this section are most welcome)
=: Those Of Us Over 40 Should Be Dead :=
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us
who were kids in the 40s, 50s and 60s probably should not
have survived.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based
paint.
There was nothing to stop us from sticking a fork in an
electrical outlet.
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 and metal dashboards.
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 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, only 3 TV channels, no video or DVD 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 ate worms
and mud pies, 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 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 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, if 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."
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with
scissors, doesn't it?
[author unknown]
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/5/5_4_7.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN) But heaven will have to wait a while yet.
WE ARE THE SURVIVORS!
(contributions for this section are most welcome)
=: Those Of Us Over 40 Should Be Dead :=
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us
who were kids in the 40s, 50s and 60s probably should not
have survived.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based
paint.
There was nothing to stop us from sticking a fork in an
electrical outlet.
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 and metal dashboards.
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 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, only 3 TV channels, no video or DVD 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 ate worms
and mud pies, 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 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 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, if 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."
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with
scissors, doesn't it?
[author unknown]
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/5/5_4_7.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN) But heaven will have to wait a while yet.
WE ARE THE SURVIVORS!