BocaRatonTT

SO TRUE. SAD, BUT TRUE!
> >
> > I Can't Believe You Made It !
> > If you lived as a child in the 40's, 50's,
> > 60's or 70's.
> >
> > Looking back, it's hard to believe that
> > we have lived as long as we have...
> >
> > As children, we would ride in cars with
> > no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the
> > back of a pickup truck on a warm day was
> > always a special treat.
> >
> > Our baby cribs were covered with bright
> > colored lead based paint. We had no
> > childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors,
> > or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes,
> > we had no helmets.
> >
> > (Not to mention hitchhiking to town as a
> > young kid!)
> >
> > We drank water from the garden hose and
> > not from a bottle. Horrors.
> >
> > We would spend hours building our go-carts
> > out of scraps and then rode 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 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. Our parents knew that all the neighbors
> > would watch out for all the kids.
> >
> > No cell phones. Unthinkable. We played dodge ball
> > and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We
> > got cut and broke bones and broke teeth, and
> > there were no law suits from these accidents.
> > They were accidents. No one was to blame,
> > but us. Remember accidents?
> >
> > We had fights and punched each other and
> > got black and blue and learned to get over it.
> >
> > We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank
> > sugar soda but we were never overweight... we
> > were always outside playing. We shared one
> > grape soda with four friends, from one bottle
> > and no one died from this.
> >
> > We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64,
> > X-Boxes, video games at all, 99 channels on
> > cable, video tape movies, surround sound,
> > personal cell phones, Personal Computers,
> > Internet chat rooms ... we had friends. We
> > went outside and found them. We rode bikes
> > or walked to a friend's home and knocked on
> > the door, or rung the bell or just walked in
> > and talked to them.
> >
> > Imagine such a thing. Without asking a
> > parent! By ourselves! Out there in the
> > cold cruel world! Without a guardian.
> > How did we do it?
> >
> > We made up games with sticks and tennis
> > ***** and ate worms and although we were
> > told it would happen, we did not put out
> > very many eyes, nor did the worms live
> > inside us forever.
> >
> > Little League had tryouts and not everyone
> > made the team. Those who didn't, had to learn
> > to deal with disappointment..... The teams
> > actually kept score and the winning team was
> > allowed to be excited and the losing team learned
> > to be good sports about it and learned that, in
> > life - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
> >
> > Some students weren't as smart as others
> > so they failed a grade and were held back
> > to repeat the same grade..... Horrors.
> > Tests were not adjusted for any reason.
> >
> > Almost no one went to "pre-school" and
> > when we graduated high school we all knew
> > how to read, use proper grammar and do basic math.
> > We all learned how to count out change without
> > a calculator to tell us the amount.
> >
> > The worst problems in school were tardiness
> > and chewing gum in class.
> >
> > Our actions were our own. Consequences were
> > expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of
> > a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was
> > unheard of. They actually sided with the law,
> > imagine that!
> >
> > If you misbehaved - your parents spanked you
> > and no one arrested them for doing that! We
> > also learned that when a parent said "No" - they
> > actually meant that and our lives would not be
> > ruined forever by being denied every little
> > thing we wanted at any given moment.
> >
> > New toys were received on birthdays and
> > holidays..... not on every trip to the store.
> > Parents gave us gifts out of love....
> > not out of guilt.
> >
> > This generation has produced some of the best
> > risk takers and problem solvers and inventors,
> > ever. The past 50 years has 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're one of them.
> >
> > Congratulations!