It's amazing some of us old farts are still alive

[allthumbs]

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!

[Fairweather]

One of my first big adventures was riding my bike from Tacoma to Cannon Beach, Oregon (and back) with my best friend. About 400 miles total. We did not wear helments. As I had no bike rack, I carried a packback. We spent 5 days and had $35 each for food and campground fees at Westport, and Fort Stevens State Park. Our parents agreed we could go as long as we checked in by pay phone once each evening.

 

WE WERE 13 YEARS OLD!

 

My son is now 13 and I cannot imagine letting him do the same.

[freeclimb9]

nice cut-and-paste job

Here's one about some dumbasses:

LONDON (Reuters) - A British radio station pleaded guilty Friday to injuring four listeners who suffered severe frostbite after sitting on dry ice for a competition.

 

After the "Coolest Seats In Town" challenge by BRMB radio in Birmingham, the participants -- aged between 15 and 30 -- had to be hospitalized and suffered scarring.

 

"We pleaded guilty and have been fined 15,000 pounds ($25,000)," a spokesman for BRMB told Reuters.

 

The Health and Safety Executive, the safety watchdog which brought the prosecution, said the temperature of the dry ice -- frozen carbon dioxide -- was minus 108.40 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

The prize for the contest held in August 2001 was tickets to a music festival called "Party in the Park."

 

The radio station said it was sorry about what had happened.

 

"We deeply regret the consequences," said Paul Davies, operations director for the Capital Radio Group.

 

"It was never our intention to place anyone in jeopardy and we sincerely apologies to the participants and their families for their injuries and distress."

 

 

 

[COL._Von_Spanker]

Sounds like my childhood and I'm only 24. I never got a ride to school, even in kindergarten. I wonder if parents would let that fly today?

[COL._Von_Spanker]

But did you do this when you were a kid?

 

(From todays LA times)

[catbirdseat]

When I was around 7 years old I was in Y Indian Guides and we'd go to Joshua Tree- places like Indian Cove. We kids would climb all over those rocks in tennis shoes, without ropes or helmets, while the dads stayed in camp drinking beer. We'd go way the hell up those rocks. No one ever fell. The worst anyone ever got was a skinned knee.

[allthumbs]

We tend to over-think everything now.

[ScottP]

We tend to over-think everything now.

Yeah, like how to make big bucks suing somebody for what should be considered common occurences.