Posted: Fri 14 Aug, 2009 5:50 pm
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's & 70's!First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos .They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products,loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get testedfor diabetes or cervical cancer.Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered withbright coloured lead-based paints.We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors orcabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts orair bags..We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from abottle.Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizzashops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn'topen on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!We shared one soft drink with four friends, from onebottle and NO ONE actually died from this.We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in atthe corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangersto blow up frogs with.We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and dranksoft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!We would leave home in the morning and play all day, aslong as we were back when the streetlights came on.No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.We would spend hours building our go-carts out of oldprams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes...We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars...We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, novideo games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet orInternet chat rooms...........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth andthere were no Lawsuits from these accidents.Only girls had pierced ears!We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the wormsdid not live in us forever.You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns atEaster time...We were given air guns and catapults for our 10thbirthdays,We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knockedon the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!RUGBYand CRICKET had try outs and not everyone made theteam. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERITOur teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bully's always ruled the playground at school.The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.They actually sided with the law!Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora', 'Blade','Ridge' and 'Vanilla'We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, andwe learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!