How did we survive?

[Pit Bull]

HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

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 painted with bright colored lead based paint. We often chewed on the crib, ingesting the paint.



We had no childproof 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 over weight; we were always outside playing.



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 or didn't work hard so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.



That generation produced some of the greatest risk-takers and

problem solvers. We had the freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and

we learned how to deal with it all.



~author unknown

 

[Champane Flight]

Exactly

Boy, ain't it? I see the little neighbor boy riding his bike down the street with helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves. If we would have wore that stuff back in my day, the other kids would have laughed there bu11s off. It just takes the consequences out of a mistake. They soon think that if they fall it doesen't hurt... .

 

[redramnc]

A few more....

We rode in the back seat on top of boxes used as booster seats.



The rear doors on cars didn't have child safety locks. (I remember playing Star Trek in the back seat and using the inside door handle to "fire phasers" going down the road - door came open one time - that was lesson enough. )



No GFCI devices - we knew not to play with electricity near water.



Every parent in the neighborhood was allowed - even encouraged - to discipline our sorry butts if the situation warranted.



Garage doors didn't have sensors to keep them from closing.



Electrical outlets didn't have protective covers to close them off.



Cabinets didn't have child-proof latches - we were taught (and apparently learned) not to get into them.



Old refrigerators always had the doors on them. In fact, it was impossible for younguns to take the doors off even when we tried.



To me it seems that it s now acceptable to try to legislate common sense (and you must do it bi-lingually). This just allows sorry parents to keep from having to take responsibilty for raising their kids and teaching them a little common sense - something they apparently do not possess and therefore cannot pass on.



Life happens - at least until they mandate otherwise.

 

[illflem]

All these rules just insure that our already decimated gene pool continues to degrade.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by illflem

All these rules just insure that our already decimated gene pool continues to degrade.

Man that's the truth!!!

 

[Dane]

I think we're breeding generations of people who will be missing out on some of the finer parts of being alive in this country and have the liability lawyers to blame...



What happened to the old days when a silly lawsuit would be thrown out by a smart and fair judge?

 

[MCummings]

My Grandma and I were talking about a subject very near this just last night,,



How do we survive all we've been through??



Her answer was,, The people who don't aren't saying anything.



I wasn't one of the more cautious kids, but I do always were a helmet when riding my motorcycle or 4-wheelers, and I always use my seatbelt.



Like I tell my friends,,, I may be crazy,, but I'm not stupid.



Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[Steve M]

My kids and grandkids still do all those things. If they get poisoned, suffocate in an old fridge or crack their skulls like so many kids did when I was a kid, that's just too bad. Grandma told 'em to be careful.

 

[klenger]

I can't believe some of the things that my parents let me do, ... and I was a good kid.



Example: I used to go fishing out on Lake Michigan, alone in a small row-boat with a 3. 9 HP motor. I go straight out for 5 miles, fish, and then head back. No radio, no one knew where I was, and no way I could get back if the motor quit or a storm came up (although I wasn't stupid enough to go out if the weather didn't look good. )

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by klenger

I can't believe some of the things that my parents let me do, ... and I was a good kid.

Do you think they were trying to tell you something? :-laf :-laf

 

[jtisdale]

Natural Selection

Main Entry: social Darwinism

Function: noun

Date: 1887

: an extension of Darwinism to social phenomena; specifically : a theory in sociology: sociocultural advance is the product of intergroup conflict and competition and the socially elite classes (as those possessing dumb luck and the ability to remember Granny said so) possess biological superiority in the struggle for existence



(just my $. 02):-laf

 

[daveshoe]

Lest We Forget

The Leaves-- THe Burning Leaves!

I'm old enough to remember the Saturday shopping trips to town. We were admonished to QUIT TALKING! The car windows are down and we are in TOWN. [Our parents were actually considerate enough to try and not disturb the residents]

I still enjoy the smell of burning leaves. However it now comes with the added thrill of arrest and prosecution. Back then everyone in town did it.

I also enjoy hearing the town kid's sound equipment blasting out loud enough that I can hear it a mile away-- in my living room with the TV on.

 

[WDaniels]

Jumping off of garages with big pieces of cardboard thinking that you could fly. Rope swings on branches big enough to support 2 with 8 on it. Had the butt swatted by the neighbors many a time.

Ride inside big military tires down the hill in the middle of the road.

A real miracle to be alive.

WD

 

[QRTRHRS]

Using an old car hood or a pepsi/coke signt for a sled.

Tying a string of sleds to the back of the jeep and running down the backroads at night.

Knowing what you were doing was wrong and knowing full well if caught you would get whipped.

Accepting the whipping without wimpering.

 

[lizzyhermit]

or skiing behind the trolley bus on the icy streets? if ya didn't hit a bare spot and actually survived ya knew a whippin' was in the cards 'cause the bus went right in front of your house... you played your cards and reapt the rewards... sometimes you didn't get caught either