Guest Nellie2 Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 The following aren't my thoughts....... I came across 'em and thought........ wow, I can really relate to a lot of that. :) Most of you should appreciate this...some won't have a clue what it's all about! According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40’s 50's, 60's, and 70's probably shouldn't have survived.Our baby cots were covered with brightly colored lead-based paint, which was promptly chewed and licked.We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles 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 before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, and no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we learned to get over it.We walked to friend's homes.We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nellie2 Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 When I was little...... I am talking about 7 years old here...... I used to live in a fairly run down area and there was a fair bit of derelict land about. On days like today......... hot and sunny, but then weren't they all hot and sunny!!!....on days like today we used to grab bits of cardboard or corregated iron (you could always find something lying about) and take it to the top of this hill of red earth and have a fine old time sliding down it. I always had a hanky with me to tie around skinned knees or elbows too!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter e Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 :o My childhood in a nutshell - and the same for others, no doubt. Don't know about the seventies' child, though. Isn't that when things began to change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 Ah, I remember it well! :) We actually used to drink water from running streams - sharing with sticklebacks, water boatmen and even tadpoles and frogs. I'm still here to tell the tale.At 16 my friend and I used to walk the mile and a half home from dances on our own - never had reasons to fear anything.Bit of a sad society we live in these days. Not a lot of freedom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moon Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 Not a lot of freedom.Yep, and that's because crims have got too much. We've got the mugger-huggers to blame for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmbisto Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 I know, the one night I don't go home (The very first time I might add!) and my parents go beserk. Not because I stayed out because I text them to let them know so I wouldn't wake them up because it was late but it was because the door was just locked, not bolted and chained up too.It's a shame that I didn't spend much time outdoors. I blame my Ataris console and then the Mega Drive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 Yes........happy days.I can still hear these words as if it was yesterday:"You wait till your Father gets home!!!" :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 Those were the days !, Shorts, skinned knees,raiding the orchard, getting chased by the farmer ..... and the bull :D but we survived to become the well adjusted members of society we are, :P :P replying to topics like this :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nellie2 Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 replying to topics like thisI thought I did quite well tonight............. this one is verging on the sensible......just!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmbisto Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 Yes........happy days.I can still hear these words as if it was yesterday:"You wait till your Father gets home!!!" :)For me, it was just yesterday! lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted June 22, 2003 Report Share Posted June 22, 2003 Just a few comments from a geriatric.Bikes? We had been told about those Pre-war things.Fluorescent Clackers?Fizzy pop. Not in my day!Overweight? Not on the ration book meals. The Country was just above starvation level!Cars There were only tanks and they were mostly driven by Yanks!Coats with hoods on? The only ones I saw were worn by MerchanT Seamen.In spite of all that I still remember the summer days and laying back on the ground watching the contrails of the Spitfires and Hurricanes involved in dogfights with the Germans up in the blue sky with all sorts of dreams in the back of my mind. Reality came much later when I came to appreciate what was really going on around me. Even so I remember those wonderful days. I do hope the children of today are storing up memories for their future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moon Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 For me, it was just yesterday! lol.LOL ! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 Echo of Doug's posting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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