jim phillips
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- May 11, 2003
- Messages
- 504
><br />>According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who<br />><br />>were kids in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early<br />><br />>80's, probably shouldn't have survived.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We had no childproof lids or locks on medicine bottles, doors, or<br />><br />>cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.<br />><br />><br />><br />>As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.<br />><br />>Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a<br />><br />>special treat<br />><br />><br />><br />>We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!<br />><br />><br />><br />>We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in<br />><br />>it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside<br />><br />>playing.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no<br />><br />>one actually died from this.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then<br />><br />>rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After<br />><br />>running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the<br />><br />>problem.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we<br />><br />>were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach<br />><br />>us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable!<br />><br />><br />><br />>We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games<br />><br />>at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound,<br />><br />>personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We had friends! We went outside and found them.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there<br />><br />>wereno lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one<br />><br />>was to blame but us. Remember accidents?<br />><br />><br />><br />>We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and<br />><br />>learned to get over it.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were<br />><br />>told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door,<br />><br />>or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who<br />><br />>didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade<br />><br />>and were held back to repeat the same grade.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Horrors!<br />><br />><br />><br />>Tests were not adjusted for any reason.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.<br />><br />><br />><br />>The idea of parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in school<br />><br />>or<br />><br />>broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or<br />><br />>the law. Imagine that!<br />><br />><br />><br />>This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem<br />><br />>solvers, and inventors, ever.<br />><br />><br />><br />>We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility and we learned<br />><br />>how to deal with it.<br />><br />><br />><br />>And you're one of them!<br />><br />>Congratulations.<br />><br />><br />><br />>Please pass this on to others who were blessed to grow up as "kids"<br />><br />>before lawyers and government regulated our lives "for our own<br />><br />>good"!
