This little internet rant has been around for awhile, but it still makes me smile....
TO THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 30’S, 40’S, 50’S, AND 60’S First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. 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 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, bread and butter and drank soda pop 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 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 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 Playstation’s, Nintendo’s, X-Box’s, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, 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. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not out vary many eyes, nor did the worms live in us forever. 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! This generation has produced some of the best risk takers, problem solvers and innovators 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 are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS! Send this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!
30 comments:
The funny thing is that this can also apply to a kid born in the 80's - me!
When I was a kid, my mom wouldn't even let me in the house. Needless to say, I was a lot thinner then! Now, I'm lucky if I can force myself out of the house for 5 minutes.
I can remember riding my bike everywhere - in fact, my right knee is a little messed up because I fell on it three times.
Two of my best friends, who are married with children, have sent me this list before. I got a kick out of it too.
lol!... me too. My first instinct after reading this a few times was to go off on some "nanny state" diatribe,.. then I thought, nah!..
Let me just enjoy it for what it says, not for what it makes me want to do... :)
good for you! :) i was born in the 70's(excuse me while i yell at the feminine hygiene commercial on tv. very tasteless)and i not only hurt myself on a regular basis- but i got dirty and played in the mud and got sunburned(lived in florida pre sunblock days) in fact, i slathered baby oil on in pursuit of that golden tan. climbed trees, rode horses- bareback and i fell off- and i turned out ok. some might say a bit weird- but i will deny it. :) thanks mom. guess she wanted her baby to grow up curious and independent. huh. imagine that.
... but you just know I have a metropolis-sized posting in the oven just on this subject dontcha'?..... :)
capital punishment- hmmmm- my knee jerk reaction is yes. the problem i have is that i think too much. there is the whole- putting too many innocent people on death row. if there hadn't been so many lately exonerated by dna evidenc then i would say yes. i think that we have to err on the side of caution and i would rather put these people away forever than to execute someone who is innocent. the justice system in america is far from perfect- and as i said- knee jerk- pedophiles, rapists, murderers- yes, kill them. i can't take that chance.
now, the next step is abortion isn't it? i, myself, don't think that i would have an abortion. my thing has always been prevention. unfortunately, the abortion issue is always inextricably linked to contraceptives. the abstinence thing rankles me. i was a good little baptist and i still had sex with my boyfriend at 17- felt guilty as hell- but i got over it. luckily, i didn't get pregnant. my point is- i remain pro-choice out of necessity because i am pro- contraceptives. if we could separate the issues- i doubt i- or the majority of americans- would be so polarized on the issue. maybe i am wrong. we should be pushing safe sex with teens- and you know what- i bet the numbers of teens having sex would drop off. yes- giving them the choice to not have sex is fine- but give them the others too.
so to wrap up- i am anti death penalty and pro choice out of necessity. i like to err on the side of caution. :)
as for your metropolis-sized posting- i would expect nothing less :)
hmmm... im going to have to reply to this in length later... but before you go to sleep, if you are anti death penalty, why would you wish Par Robertson was inside the plane that crashed?... spur of the moment sinful thought? or just a moral relativity on your part? :)
I meant Pat Robertson sorry:) I saw that little bomb you dropped at QD's blog and it perked my interest....
sinful thought- um no. fantasy only. it's like saying "i am so mad i could kill you." then not really acting on it. i can dislike the man intensely- and not be able to feel enough hatred to actually pull a trigger. just passing knee jerk flip reaction. besides, god was obviously on his side.
:) I figured as much... but the thought on the anti-death thing is appreciated since I am posting on that soon. Cheers!
ah, how i long for those days of yore, when child mortality rates soared like they eagle....
"that which does not klll us must be newfangled!"
KEvron
Oh, excuse me... I didn't realize I'd landed in John Stossel's blog.
You left out how teachers used to be able to beat school children, and don't forget the good old days when we used to be able to refuse service to people because of the color of their skin...
Why do people always think the past was better than their present?
it's easier and somehow comforting to wax nostatlgic for a time that seems simpler and less complicated(by definition). i don't think that that necessarily means we want to go backwards. maybe some people do- but i would hate to think that we would want to give up all that we worked for. not to say that as you get older, you can't remember your childhood with rose colored glasses.
Vevronius:
... is was not a "days of yore" wax poetic on anything close to it. Only a simple homage to the fact that somethings -not all-, but somethings were better then than they are now. To think otherwise or to imply that this blog is of such thinking is to be of narrow vision and narrower comprehension of my intent.
Your comments are always welcomed.
QuakerDave:
John Stossel... hmmm, I don't know too much about him other than he is a noted Libertarian and is employed by one of the 3 networks as a journalist of some kind. Maybe when I find our more I can reply better but you caught me a moment of unpreparedness to address your comment.
As to your second comment:
To infer that my posting of this little diddy implies that I am for (or yearn) for the times of racial segregration or corporal punishment is silly enough. My views are unique, some are acerbic and some are on the fringes of Anarchismm,.. but never discriminatory. If you have read enough of my posting and the way that I treat people, and my trying of finding a common ground on a variety of subjects then you would not have made the comment. I will just let it go. You figure it out.
Lastly, I represent my opinions and mine only. I don't hold the pail for any organization, any group or any party for that matter... so when you ask, and I quote:
"Why do YOU people always think the past was better than their present?"
I say to you I am not a member of "you people". I speak and represent myself and pledge allegiance to no other opinion. If by "you people" you mean conservatives and/or Republicans, then note that there are variations there as well. Is it common for you to toss out generalizations like that? ....or does in only happen here...
6/05/2006
Betmo:, if you were not married,...I would propose right now....
How can you being a independent-minded liberal understand my meaning and others of left leaning not? :)
I dont get it... Do I look, act or spew like a right-wing bomb thrower?... I am a sweet guy, for crying out loud....
Why can't people just muse for 2 seconds of the fact that SOME things from the past are worth keeping while other things are certainly an abomination to human kind?
Why is it so hard to understand that when one high-lites something, one is not necessarity agreeing or espousing the hidden time-associations of such...?
"Why cant we all just get along?"
~Rodney King~
... I love this :)
WHOA! Re-read what I typed in! There is NO "YOU" next to the "people" in the comment I left. And so don't infer that I meant YOU, because I DIDN'T mean YOU.
MY POINT was to point out that the "good old days" that so many people yearn for only exist in old black-and-white sitcoms on NickAtNight.
There was NO attack on YOU implied or intended. If that's how it looked, I apologize.
And PS: John Stossel is a "journalist"? Then I'm a Reagan Republican!
QD:
My mistake in scan reading.... Your apology is not needed and instead my apology is offered for not having 20/20.... (no glasses this mornin'...)
I know what you are saying, and I know that in spite of our differences you've been a straight shooter (sorry, but gun puns are allowed here :)so all the more reasons why your comment struck me as such.
No offense taken and I hope my retort was not interpreted as one who was offended...more like confused. We're good.
(p.s. I still think you can admit that there is SOME good in the nostalgia,... even if its at nick at nite...)
p.s. for QD:
Does that mean I have to put John Stossel in a future "persona de la semana?....
Oh, sweet Jesus, not again...
20/20- is who john stossel works for- incidently. :)
I just saw John Stossel on C-SPAN 2 the other day at an event for CATO, a libertarian think-tank. I believe he was plugging his new book. I have nothing against him and I think he makes some very worthwhile points.
Stossel has out a new book, a kind of debunking of commonly held myths. Pretty good read.
Yes, I was especially partial to Stossel's completely undocumented, unsubstantiated, irresponsible attack on public education earlier this year, in which he basically attributed all of the problems of the known and unknown universe to school teachers and, of course, their unions. All as background for a pitch for vouchers, of course, which he saved for the last five minutes of the show.
Most of what he said was quickly debunked by some folks who actually DID their homework.
Betmo:
Thanks for the Stossel 411 :)
Sarah:
Thats why I think the few times Ive seen the guy. He does not come across as nearly the fringe character QD opines of him... Good seeing around my woods GF :)
QD:
Dont worry, I have better fish to fry than Stossel on my "persona de la semana" Fridays....
Publius:
I dont feel quite like that but I can understand the sentiment,... Like i said to QD,... not every new is good, not everything old is noble...(or words to that effect)
AOW:
Ive seen his book on a few spams here and there, thanks for the tip... Ill read it to so I can quote a few morself to QD :)
p.s. to QD:
I wish I would have seen that,... I read enough blow-back on that that my curiosity really perked but I did not take the time to inquire further. Thanks for the reminder. Im not exactly a Champion for Public Education but dont think it has to be abolished the way the Libertarian party espouses. I'll check it out.
i saw it. it was a bit sensationalized- but all of those shows are. i feel that we need to fix the education system and i think that the gates foundation has a good place to start. you can check out their website(link on my blog. yes shameless plug) i am embarrassed to say i got the intel from my mom who made me watch oprah- 2 part special.
anyway, i am currently reading thomas freidman's book- the world is flat. recommend it highly. i will do a blurb after i am done- but there is no place for those unwilling to change in this world. the world is a global world now and we don't have the luxury of all of the old ways. that's not to say that we can't wax nostalgic but if we get mired down and get stubborn about change- we will get left behind(and not by the rapture).
Publius:
And you still get some people thinking that we have it waaaaaay better now than before. Its such a narrow argument to. There is both sides of this issue that are worth exploring,... but again, we are fighting absolute-ism, not pragmatists.
Betmo:
I can't wait to buy his book,.. I read "longitudes and lattitudes" and was blown away by the guy's grasp of such mega issue as the whole middle east socio-political puzzle,.. and his ability in prose to make it easy on the digestion... brilliant guy...
thanks for the reminder :)
Post a Comment