First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us to term.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and never got tested for diabetes.
Hell, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints and our rooms were heavy in asbestos.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets.
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 seat belts or air bags and riding in the back of a pick-up was the norm.
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 died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight why? Because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We did not have PlayStation, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms but we had imagination and lots of it.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day and as long as we were back when the streetlights came on everything was cool.
No one was able to reach us all day and believe it or not we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scrap wood, bent nails of all different sizes and then ride down the hill, only to realize we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We fell out of trees and stepped on glass and got cut, broke bones, chipped teeth and banged our knees all up and you know what there no such thing as a lawsuit from these accidents.
We ate worms played in ditches and gutters made mud pies from dirt, and played with frogs and tadpoles.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays and never shot out someone’s eye. We played with clackers. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and played hide-n-seek.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just walked in!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with it. Imagine that!!
When we got in trouble with the police and they would take us home and we were most afraid not because of the police but were afraid of our parents.
When we got in trouble in school the principle handed out punishment.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 40 to 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!
We had the privilege to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
