This is from an email that was sent to me the other day, the author is unknown:
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN 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 carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, 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 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 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 Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, 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 ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
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 house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for 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 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 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.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
This is my take on this email:
First off let me say that I may not agree with everything that it says, but it does make me think about the difference between how our children are being raised and how we were raised. It reminds me of some of my childhood memories. I know I seem to be on a kick about my childhood memories lately, oh well.
As far as the government stepping in and regulating our lives. To some extent maybe we need it, but I also hate the idea of the government getting too much control, you know the saying "give them an inch they will take a mile."
We may think that being forced to wear a seatbelt is some violation of our rights, but would you think like that after it saved your life in a near fatal car accident? I think you would become thankful, I know I would. I know that before seatbelt usage was mandatory, I never used it. As a matter of fact afterwards I still didn't use it, it really wasn't until I had children that I started, because I did it for their safety and I felt that I needed to set the example.
Another example of this is riding in the back of pickups. Now this might look all fun and everything, but is it really a smart thing to do? Years ago I witnessed an incident where a man was tossed out of the back of a pickup truck, and somehow he managed to have himself caught by a rope or something so that he was being dragged behind the truck. Unfortunately for him the driver did not notice what had happened so he was dragging behind for several miles. He was brought into surgery because his buttocks had been worn down by road. Can you imagine? The road was like sandpaper grinding off layer after layer of flesh and muscle. I know it's gross to think about, but very serious. I bet that guy would have wished that he had never jumped in the back of that pickup truck.
Now about helmets, I don't make my children wear them with their peddle bikes, but I truly believe that it is a must when riding a motorcycle. I know there are many motorcyclists out there that have been fighting to get this law lifted here in Michigan, but I just can't agree with them. I've also witnessed motorcycle accidents where they riders were lucky to be alive, and they were wearing helmets, I can only imagine what the outcome would have been like if they had not been wearing one.
I know that some might argue that we don't need that much control that we could die choking on a hotdog, and does that mean we should stop eating hotdogs? No, I personally like hotdogs, so I won't stop eating them, but I can make sure that I use caution when I do eat them (hint, hint, don't inhale them, the key word is EAT them). Also, I think that I can still live a happy life without jumping in the back of a pickup for a ride.
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