Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Those Born 1930-1979

This one has been floating around the internet for awhile, so I thought I'd publish it here just because I can. I figure my email is just like my postal mail. Once its in my inbox its mine. Also for the person who would not sign their name in my comments that I've already deleted, If you had read this post you would have noticed this quote at the bottom. "For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this. For the rest of us...pass this on." I think that is all I need to re-publish this." Ohhh Yeah, If you don't like my blog then feel free never to come back, I promise I won't notice.


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED in 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, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitch-hiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up 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 and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with
sugar, 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 Playstations, Nitendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or 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 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!

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 bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this.For the rest of us...pass this on.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a product of the 70's. Born in 1975. Kids now a days have no clue. I remember before we owned a vcr or a microwave. Times certainly have changed. Great post!

Anonymous said...

Once I found my glasses, I was able to read this delightful post.

Ah, the memories! I'm actually old enough to remember when it was safe to go out trick-or-treating with your friends, without fear of being fed poison, or snatched by a serial killer.

Kids have a lot of advantages today with technology, but very few have the kind of innocent enjoyment we had. How sad!

Anonymous said...

And now you're the paranoid parents of our generation who protect us from every little thing because the commercials tell you to. So thanks.. i suppose :D

Deviantgrrl said...

I was born in 1980, but you just layed out my childhood. It was the best. I now have three children of my own and it is totally different. I'm scared to let my children have the freedom that i had, to many people snatching up kids. Where are the people that we could trust when we where kids?

Anonymous said...

what the??? What does God has to do with any of that is beyond me.

Anonymous said...

Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able, and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god. - Epicurus

Anonymous said...

Fairly good point, until you somehow saw the need to draw God into it. (Kind of took me by surprise at the end there.) As a teenaged member of society, I can say we still do a lot of the things listed, but there's also a good deal we'd never get away with anymore. I think it's more of a nostalgia problem for you old codgers, though. With our inferior youth culture to distract us, we don't really know what we're missing. :)

Unknown said...

Of course you survived, if you hadn't you wouldn't be able to write this. The fact that the kids who didn't survive or were severely damaged by such things aren't able to say anything about it. Your logic fails on that point.

Those who can't speak are my aunt who was killed in a car crash, my uncle who is mentally disabled due to fetal alcohol syndrome, etc.

Now I don't agree with the idea of protecting kids from every possible danger, the chance of a kid being struck by lightning indoors is greater than being kidnapped by a stranger but kids are routinely killed in car crashes even with the safety devices we now have. So protect them from real dangers, car crashes, head injuries while riding a bike, accidental poisoning by keeping medications and chemicals locked up, but let them do the fun harmless things like play outside all day, build stuff (with help and supervision), explore, etc. It's all a matter of balance.

Low Carb Ketogenic Diets said...

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the comments.

I remember when neighbors watched out for each other and their children. A time when we were part of a community and not isolating ourselves. I'm not saying by any means that my childhood was perfect but there was more good then bad. I remember playing outside while my parents sat on the porch. And a soda was only .15 cents at the corner gas station.

I'm not sure how many of my neighbors etc. went to church or were god fearing. Although I do remember seeing a few of them in church.

Maybe thats all it takes. In god we trust, why change something that works?

Everyone has to have faith on their own what ever it is, I always give tolerance to others and I expect the same in return. God or no God. If I see something thats not right I can not in good conscious turn a blind eye, I expect the same from my neighbors and friends. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with God but I do know I like that about myself and others.

From the first boat that landed on our shores to now “in god we trust” has worked. Why mess with success?

Anonymous said...

I agree with LCAJ. If we have to be tolerant of you, you have to be tolerant of people who like to say they believe in God.

Anywho, middle-aged people can't blame us for using the technology they invented and for living in the present they created. (I was born in '89.) And like andy said, you are the ones being paranoid and not letting us go outside or talk to strangers.
I'm sure times were great back then and whatnot, but you can't blame us for our youth.

Now, what I would like from the good ol' days would be your gas prices. That would be pretty sweet, amirite?

Anonymous said...

You old people are jokes. As previously mentioned you guys facilitated all of these "terrible" things, it was you guys kid napping people, you guys inventing technology that we use too much, and you guys suing everyone for dumb reasons. Oh and the god thing has nothing to do with anything.

In addition "in god we trust" has nothing to do with the success of our nation, our democratic government and capitalist economy are what made the United States a success.

Stop bitching about the things that you caused.

Anonymous said...

my father was born in 1960 and my mother 1970 and I can honestly say that they are the ones stopping us from doing all those things. So stop talking about how we dont do all this stuff. its the adults who wont let us go out unsupervised, who give us cell phones to keep a leash on us, and who always feel the need to come to the rescue.

Anonymous said...

Your post resembles a song I've heard by Country singer Bucky Covington:

"A Different World"

http://www.metrolyrics.com/a-different-world-lyrics-bucky-covington.html

Low Carb Ketogenic Diets said...

Wow, Thanks for all the comments again. It is food for thought.

Unknown said...

I was a product of the late 50's early 60's. There were a couple of other things that might fit into your very true and correct piece. We could problem solve. Played baseball in empty lots with the number of people who were there sometimes it was one base. Sometimes we had to have ghost runners. Some schools have outlawed playing tag because so of the students were not good or fast. We were able to allow them to play and up the risk factors of getting caught and did not always try to just get those kids.We knew they needed to play and we wanted them to play cause they were friends and from the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

I was born in the mid sixties. We did all those things and I do alot of them with my nephews and my son now.

I did not have helmets or knee pads or seat belts or car seats or any of that. Doesnt mean it was a better time. We invented most of the technology in use today and we have made huge profits from it. Why do I hear so many complaints about how GOOD things are now?????

Infant mortality rates have declined and children make it into early adult hood before they do something stupid and get killed. GOD knows it was a better time when a child had to walk around with a body cage on that weighed 30 lbs because of scoliosis.

Maybe we should start picking all these damn lucky kids off, who the hell do they think they are living.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so you grew up without all of the propaganda about safety that kids/parents today have to deal with. Do you really think its the kids who want all of these safety regulations, wrist guards, hermetically sealed water bottles that cost two dollars a pop? Nope; its the parents, politicians, and otherwise "well-minded" people who grew up in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, etc.

You can't blame it on the technology either, because guess who probably bought that Xbox, Nintendo, or Playstation for the kids these days. Well, I know when I was a youngster I certainly didnt have the four hundred plus dollars to spend on anything like that.

In the post and in many of the comments I notice that the nostalgic memories of childhood come from being outside, and roaming free in your safe neighborhoods that were filled with good people who looked out for each other. When is the last time anyone who was born in one of these decades went and talked to everyone in their neighborhood. Or, better yet, had a pot-luck, BBQ, picnic, or something where everyone can get together and become a community.

And to those of you who would reply "I know all my neighbors on a first name basis and see them regularly"; then, as an example, why are you afraid to send your children out trick or treating?

If you are all really afraid of what you see on the television, all the news about child snatchers, deadly poisons in the water, high fructose corn syrup rendering a generation incapable of maintaining healthy weight - maybe you should stop watching it, go outside, play with your kids, and go back to being as ignorant as people were in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. Who knows, maybe that's the answer.

Anonymous said...

Why was it necessary to veer off into a god rant at the end? Now it's just pandering. ick

Unknown said...

John

I was born in the 40's and actually had fun growing up. Also real food not fast food!

Anonymous said...

Well now kiddies, I was born in 1947 and it was a very good year. I grew up in the time of the Cold War, and we learned to duck and cover in grade school. Yes, LCAJ was correct about the good times, but we also were among the first to be able to benefit from the Sal;k vaccine, some of my friends, weren't so lucky. I remember that we got our 1st TV when I was 9 years old. I don't want my grandkids to grow up in today's society where TV impacts kids negatively every day, but, you work with what you've got.

Anonymous said...

to "those born 1930-1979": why couldn't you keep it the same way it was back then if it was so great? you all were the inventors of all the things that make kids now "have no clue." You are our parents!! How is that our fault??

Anonymous said...

OMG!! How the hell do you people go from reminiscing about the past to a "blame fest"? Geez.... get a grip!

Anonymous said...

And to all of you who were born in that time period and now bitching... congratulations, you're the same ones who grew up and CHANGED EVERYTHING for the younger generation. So who exactly are you pointing the finger at?
And for those bitching about technology.. all of you are obviously using computers to post your comments. So us younger folk are looked down upon because we have so many advances in technology available to us.. and yet you use the same things, such as computer and microwave etc. But it's okay because you're now old men and women and let me guess you've somehow earned the right? ha ha.

Stop whining. It's OUR TURN. Enjoy your rocking chairs you bitter old fucks.

To the rest of you with more innocent postings, I'm glad you enjoyed your "good ol days". Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I'm young. I mean, very young. But I completely agree that us kids have no clue. I remember sitting there listening to my mom and grandma talk about their childhood, and I wish I was born say, 40 years earlier. I actually laugh when people that I attend school with say "I remember when all I had to watch was 3 channels, back in the day."
I smiled through this whole post because I would relate to all the stories my mom told me.

Anonymous said...

Way to go for the younger posters in proving their ignorance by calling the older posters bitter old fucks....I was born in 1981 but was brought up much more in line with people from 1930-1979 and I see people in my so-called generation doing things I would have gotten my ass beaten for......

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