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| *Vultures Knob>>>Kids Bike |
All the kids from the early years maybe could read this? |
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and 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. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. 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 actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop 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, as long 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 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 did not have Playstations, 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..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 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! Thanks for a walk down memory lane but you forgot some of the bad things... We were the first generation raised predominantly by single moms. What is was it like to wear $200 Nike's with my parachute pants at the mall? I have no idea. My daddy didn't pay child support. We are risk takers to be sure but only because we view it as smart. We grew up watching our parents get downsized and our grandparents forced into early retirement. We think building an empire is smart, working for the man is, well, risky. While it's true we had friends we really had no choice. Deregulation of communications during our formative years meant that there was an explosion of media about the time we hit our teens. Rather than a radio station having program blocks (farm report in the morning, easy listening in the afternoon, market report in the evening and family programming at night) all of a sudden there were radio stations (and MTV) that spoke directly to me... 24 hours a day. My friends noticed too. During the most selfish days of our lives we were forced conveniently together into one market demographic. We are the product of unintended consequences. You point out that we had freedom but I think if you look at it objectively it could be more accurately labled apathy. By and large dad wasn't around and mom had to work full time to support us. That didn't leave a lot of temporal and emotional resources for supervision. Our parents, The Baby Boomers are the most self centered generation in the history of the world. Thanks to The Pill and Roe v. Wade (just conjecture here, no value judgments) we are one of the smallest generations there ever was. Many of us were accidents that being born prior to 1973 preserved. When mom went off to start her new life with husband 2, 3, 4, or whatever we were dragged into relationships we didn't ask for as part and parcel of the gig. That's okay... The day of reckoning comes when we're too busy working to take care of our aging parents (and since there are so few of us the people who do take care of them are not likely to speak English). Don't get me wrong. I'm right there with you. I just look at the factors that shaped our developmental years from a less romantic (more demographic) perspective. I don't think there is anything wrong with my daughter (age nine) having a computer, internet connection, cell phone, iPod, game boy, PS2, TiVO, dormatory sized fridge, microwave and a big @ssed TV in her room. Daddy spends one hell of a lot of time with her (everything from home work to Simple Plan concerts). She has everything I never had including her mom and dad, married, still in love after ten years of marriage and in the same household. The difference between the way she is growing up and the way you and I did is that our parents told us they loved us, my daughter is shown. Thanks for letting me rant!! amen....those were the days! AMEN! And we want better for our children, huh? Sounds like that was the best! amen! Yeah, we did all that stuff too, and I don't recall ever having any friends die from sharing a snowcone! With all the technology today, you would think kids would have the mental capacity to just go out and play...instead of wasting their childhood living in front of a screen. There will be time enough for that when they grow up and have to do it for a living, for the rest of their lives (which, by the way will be longer than our parents enjoyed). I found your comments full of insight and a few basic truths...Good job! dam straight i wish it was still like that |
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