If you lived as a child in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's, 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 Ute on a warm day was always a special treat. Our cots
were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids
on medicine bottles, doors, or cupboards, and when we rode our bikes we had
no helmets. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
Horrors
We would spend hours building 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 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. No mobile phones.
Unthinkable
We got cut and broke bones and broke teeth, and there were no law suits
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 ate patty cakes, bread and butter, and drank cordial, but we were
never overweight...we were always outside playing. We shared one drink with
four friends, from one bottle and no one died from this. We did not have
Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games, 65 channels on pay TV,
video tape movies, surround sound, personal mobile phones, Personal
Computers, Internet chat rooms ... we had friends. We went outside and
found them. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the
door, or rung the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Imagine such a thing
Without asking a parent! By ourselves! Out there in the cold cruel
world! Without a guardian - how did we do 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. Football and basketball 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. Tests were not
adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
No one to hide behind. 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 has been an explosion of
innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and
responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And most of us here are one
of them.
Congratulations!
