The Good Old Days....

I am heading out to go fishing....so taking the
easy way out, but giving you a email that does
say a lot to all of use over the age of 35...

Those Born 1920-1979 TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's
and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers
who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna
from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then
after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our
tummies in baby cribs 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 infants &children, we would ride in cars
with no car seats, booster seats, 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 Kool-aid made with sugar, 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's,
no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal
computers, no Internet or 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! These generations have 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!

As I read that, I thought, yes, it was the good old days,
and I would give up my television, micro wave and etc.
for some of those days.
Maybe things would be better if our grandchildren were
outside as much as we and our kids were...but then we
also need to get outside more ourselves...
So I am heading out to go fishing... enjoy the day