CONGRATULATIONS
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s
First, we survived being born
to mothers who smoked and/or drank
while they carried us and lived in houses full of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese & tuna from a can,
and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes,
we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took cadging lifts.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
A trip to the coast on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the stream and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops,
McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Kebabs.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm
and only opened for a few hours at weekends,
some how we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends,
from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner shop
and buy fruit Spangles
and some bangers to blow up frogs with.
We ate buns, white bread and real butter
and drank soft drinks with sugar in it,
but we weren't overweight because......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
as long as we were back
when the streetlights came on.
No mobile phones – no one was able to reach us all day,
And we were always O.K.
We would spend hours building our trolleys out of scraps
and then ride down the hill,
only to find out we forgot the brakes.
We built tree houses and dens and
played in streams with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no videogames at all,
no 99 channels on Sky, no video tape or DVD movies,
nosurround sound
no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
and the worms did not live in us forever..
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross buns at Easter time
no really!
We had air guns and catapults for our birthdays,
We drank milk laced with Strontium 90 from cows
that had eaten grass covered in
nuclear fallout from the atomic testing.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house
and knocked on the door or rang the bell,
or just yelled for them from the street!
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
Mum & dad didn't need Brandy, Whisky
whatever when they came in from work!
Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to
deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather straps
and bullies always ruled the playground at school.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like
'Kylie' and 'Blade'
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 70 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 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 our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
PS -The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age
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