the slo-life

Those Born 1930-1979! - TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED 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 were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna
from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma,
we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright
colored lead-based paints.

We had no child proof 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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no
car seats, booster seats, 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 Kool-ade made
with sugar, 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 street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all anyway,
and we were OK. 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 Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at
all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no
surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no
Internet or 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 walked in and talked to 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!

These generations have 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! If 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 so much of our
lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids
so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't
it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding,
severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and
with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,"Are we sure this is a
good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

A special thanks to someone that thinks alike.