Us older folks, or
I guess it would be more politically correct to say
"Youth deprived"or "Age enhanced," have lived a most dangerous
but adventurous life. 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 child-proof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and
when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.
We drank water from
the garden hose and not from a bottle.
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.
We played dodge ball
and sometimes the ball would really hurt.
We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda but we were never
overweight; we were always getting excersize playing outside with out
friends
Little League had
tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal
with disappointment and learned to try harder.
Some students weren't
as smart as others so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the
same grade. That generation produced some of the best risk-takers
and problem solvers.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned how to deal with it all.
It's
a wonder that any of our generation has survived yet since having such
a
hazardous way of life growing up. .
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