Not For The Younger Members

[EMS]

If you were born after 1970, the following may be hard to understand for you, for us old men, however, it is surprising how we made it at all this far:

When we were kids, we sat in cars without seat-belts or air-bags. Our beds and cribs were finished with paints full of lead and cadmium. We could open the bottles from the pharmacy easily. Those containing bleach too. Doors and cabinets were a constant thread to our little fingers and we never wore a helmet on the bicycle. We drank water from the tap and not from bottles. We built cars from cardboard boxes and discovered only on the way down the hill, that we forgot about brakes. We managed, after a few crashes. We left the house in the morning to go to play. We stayed out all day and didn't have to be home before the streetlights came on. Nobody knew where we were and we didn't even carry a cell-phone. We cut ourselves, broke bones and teeth and nobody was ever sued over this. Those were "accidents". Nobody was ever blamed than ourselves. Nobody ever questioned parental responsibility.
Those of you who remember these "accidents" know that we fought and quarreled. We beat each other black and blue. We had to live with this, the adults didn't really care that much about it.
We ate cookies, butter spread thick on bread and drank lots. We did not grow fat. We shared drinks from the same bottle and nobody died from it. We did not have PlayStation, Nintendo, X-Box Video-Games, 102 TV Channels, Movies on Tape, Surround Sound, our very own TV sets, computers or Internet chat-rooms. We had FRIENDS.
We left the house and met them on the street. Or we went over to their home and rang the door bell. Sometimes we didn't even ring and just walked in. Without a prior appointment or knowledge of either our parents. Nobody took us over and/or picked us up. How was that ever possible??
We made up games incorporating wooden sticks and tennis balls. Worst, some of us ate worms!!! And all the prophecies never came true. The worms did not live inside our stomachs and we did not poke out any eyes with the wooden sticks.
Some of the games could only be played by those who were good at it. Those who were not, had to learn to live with disappointments.
Some students weren't as smart as others. They failed tests and had to repeat terms and classes. This did not result in emotional PTA meetings or even changes to the performance requirements.
Still, our generations produced a lot of Problem Solvers and Inventors with a willingness to take risks. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility. And we were able to handle it.

[barryadam]

Nice, EMS.
And so true.

Our youngest just started university this year. Here is her generation's perspective:

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/

Barry

[preston]

How true it was, I loved growing up in the 50-60 era, the good ole' days. What EMS says brings back so many happy memories of my life-- our skate boards were made of a 2by4 and a splited key skate that you'd clamp on to your shoe nailed on the wood. Thoes were the days of adventure and fun, if only we could bring them back again.

[James XT]

Preston - you are so old school.

MY skateboard was plywood - (OK rectangular though) and I bolted my cut apart skates onto it.

See how modern mine was... it didn't really turn but it produced more than the expected fun and concrete rash.

Ah the boyhood fun of the great outdoors, sharp sticks and making near death machines. (My sincere apologies to Preston. I am a cad.)

James