This post isn't my own work. I found it in a Twitter friend's blog http://Twitter.com/peewii. She didn't know the author either.
Congratulations to all people who were born in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!
First, we survived being born to mothers who either smoked and/or drank whilst they carried us and they lived in houses made from asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw eggs, liver and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer. Then, after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint.
We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets or safety gear and often rode with no shoes on our feet.
If we were lucky enough to ride in a car we didn't wear a seat-belt and there were no air-bags.
We drank water from the garden hose.
Take-away food was limited to fish 'n' chips; there were no pizza places, McDonald's, KFCor Subway.
All the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open at the weekend and guess what? We didn't starve.
We shared one drink between 4 friends, drank from the same bottle and didn't die! We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner shop for Toffos, gobstoppers, bubblegum or even a naughty banger with which to blow up frogs.
We ate cakes, white bread, real butter, fizzy drinks loaded with sugar but never gained weight because we were always outside playing. During the summer holidays we would leave home in the morning and play out all day. No-one was able to reach us and as long as we were back when the street lights came on we were ok.
We'd spend hours building go-carts from old bits of pram and then ride down a hill only to discover we didn't have brakes but it didn't matter. We build tree-houses and dens and played in river beds. We didn't havePlaystations, Nintento Wii, no video games,DVD's, hundreds of channels on TV, no internet or chat rooms. We had friends and we went outside to find them.
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke teeth, sometimes broke bones and we didn't sue anyone.
Only girls had pierced ears.
We ate worms and mud pies and didn't die. And the worms didn't grow into monsters in our bellies.
Easter eggs and hot cross buns were only available at Easter.
Sports teams at school had trials and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into the team was based on MERIT!
Teachers used to belt us with tawes and board dusters and bullies always ruled the playground.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we got into trouble was unheard of - they sided with authority.
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids.
We had freedom, failure, success, disappointment, responsibility and we learned how to deal with it all.
So if you were born in those decades above, congratulations! How brave we were!
Congratulations to all people who were born in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!
First, we survived being born to mothers who either smoked and/or drank whilst they carried us and they lived in houses made from asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw eggs, liver and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer. Then, after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint.
We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets or safety gear and often rode with no shoes on our feet.
If we were lucky enough to ride in a car we didn't wear a seat-belt and there were no air-bags.
We drank water from the garden hose.
Take-away food was limited to fish 'n' chips; there were no pizza places, McDonald's, KFCor Subway.
All the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open at the weekend and guess what? We didn't starve.
We shared one drink between 4 friends, drank from the same bottle and didn't die! We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner shop for Toffos, gobstoppers, bubblegum or even a naughty banger with which to blow up frogs.
We ate cakes, white bread, real butter, fizzy drinks loaded with sugar but never gained weight because we were always outside playing. During the summer holidays we would leave home in the morning and play out all day. No-one was able to reach us and as long as we were back when the street lights came on we were ok.
We'd spend hours building go-carts from old bits of pram and then ride down a hill only to discover we didn't have brakes but it didn't matter. We build tree-houses and dens and played in river beds. We didn't havePlaystations, Nintento Wii, no video games,DVD's, hundreds of channels on TV, no internet or chat rooms. We had friends and we went outside to find them.
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke teeth, sometimes broke bones and we didn't sue anyone.
Only girls had pierced ears.
We ate worms and mud pies and didn't die. And the worms didn't grow into monsters in our bellies.
Easter eggs and hot cross buns were only available at Easter.
Sports teams at school had trials and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into the team was based on MERIT!
Teachers used to belt us with tawes and board dusters and bullies always ruled the playground.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we got into trouble was unheard of - they sided with authority.
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids.
We had freedom, failure, success, disappointment, responsibility and we learned how to deal with it all.
So if you were born in those decades above, congratulations! How brave we were!
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