| According to today's regulators
and bureaucrats, those of us
 who were kids in the 40's,
 50's, 60's, or even maybe
 the 70's probably
 shouldn't have survived.
 
 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 the risks
 we took hitchhiking.)
 
 As children, we would ride
 in cars with no seatbelts
 or air bags.
 
 Riding in the back of a pickup
 truck on a warm day was
 always! a special treat.
 
 We drank water from the
 garden hose and not from
 a bottle.
 
 Horrors!
 
 We ate cupcakes, bread and
 butter, and drank soda pop
 with sugar in it, but we were
 never overweight because
 we were always outside
 playing.
 
 We shared one soft drink
 with four friends, from one
 bottle, and no one actually
 died from this.
 
 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 street lights
 came on.
 
 No one was able to
 reach us all day.
 
 NO CELL PHONES!!!! !!
 
 U n t h i n k a b l e !
 
 We did not have Playstations,
 Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no
 video games at all, no 99
 channels on cable, video
 tape movies, surround
 sound, personal cell phones,
 personal computers, or Internet
 chat rooms.
 
 We had friends!
 
 We went outside and found
 them.
 
 We played dodge ball, and
 sometimes, the ball would
 really hurt.
 
 We fell out of trees, got
 cut and broke bones and
 teeth, and there were no
 lawsuits 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 made up games with
 sticks and tennis balls 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.
 
 We rode bikes or walked to
 a friend's home 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.
 
 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.
 
 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.
 
 
 
 
 
 Please pass this on to others
 who have had the luck to grow
 up as kids, before lawyers
 and government regulated our
 lives, for our own good !!!!!
 _________________ TiLtEd wrote: Boobies!!!  
 
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