When we were young

**eglen john** · 01-02-2008, 09:20

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50's, 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because...
Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the front passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle that tasted the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day. No one was able to reach us and no one minded, as long as we were back before it got dark.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learned not to do the same thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue. We learned to get over it.
We walked to friend's homes.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our duffel coats by only the hood.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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.
And you're one of them. Congratulations!
Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.
(If you aren't old enough, though, you might like to read about us.)

**Scouse75** · 01-02-2008, 11:58

So True!! I remember at weekends or school holidays when we would leave the house at 8am and had to be dragged in when it was dark. We had to have imagination to find things to do, and not have it spoon fed to us. Today, you have to drag youngsters out of the house to play outside, and they wonder why we call them the "Playstation Generation!".

Me,Bean(Csm Jones10) and Gringo would jump off the bridge in Llangollen which is a pretty decent height into the Dee. If we did that today, we would be locked up for a Public Order offence!! Madness! (The Police have been directed to do this by the local authority)

The only time the Police ever went to my house was when I was involved in a 'slight altercation' with my mates and a group of tourists. We were only about 12, but I would not go home for the rest of the day knowing I was in for a hard time. Although I pleaded my innocence, it just didnt wash with my parents. And their perspective was...."You must have done something, otherwise the Police wouldn't have come here!!" This is somewhat different to the response I now get from parents when their little angel has done something. Now it's usually.... "F**k Off Copper, He was with me all the time. Go and catch some murderers or Rapists!" To which I usually reply "Of course Sir, Do you happen to know where any are at the moment?"

Another experience that hit it home is when training recruits in Lichfield, we would take them Adventure training and organise a big game of footy for all of us. Now, Steven Gerards place is not under threat from me, but out of a platoon of 50, about 10 had actually played football, or any outdoor sports before!! Mind you, they were **** hot on the SAT(small arms trainer), only because it was like a big playstaion.

Ok, rant over!!