Well said Gordon If only things were as simple today as they used to be. Us kids of the 1930's - 1970's used to have lives rather than possessions. Regards Gail > Gordon Evans <[email protected]> wrote: > > Congratulations to all my friends who were born in the 1930's,1940's, > 50's, > 60's and 70's. > > First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while > they > carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. > They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and > processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or > cervical cancer. > > Then, after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright colored > lead-based paints. > > We had no child-proof lids on medicine-bottles, doors or cabinets, and > when > we rode our bikes we had no helmets or shoes -not to mention the risks > we > took hitch-hiking. > > As children we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. > > We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. > > Take-away food was limited to fish and chips - no pizza shops, > McDonalds, > KFC, Subway or Nandos. > > Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the > weekends, > somehow we didn't starve to death! > > We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE > actually died from this. > > We collected old drink bottles and cashed them in at the corner shop to > buy > Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. > > We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks 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 old prams and then > ride > down the hill, only to find out we'd forgotten the brakes. We built tree > houses > and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars. > > We did'nt have Playstations, Nintendo Wii, X-boxes, no video games at > all, > no 999 channels on SKY, > no video/dvd films, > no mobile 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. > > Only girls had pierced ears! > > We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in > us > forever. > > You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time... > > We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays, > We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or > rang > the bell, or just yelled for them! > > Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet! > > Rugby and cricket had tryouts 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 > > Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes, and bullies always > ruled the playground at school. > > The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. > They actually sided with the law! > > Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and > 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla' > > We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW > TO > DEAL WITH IT ALL! > > And YOU are one of them! > > CONGRATULATIONS! > > You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow > up as > kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our > own > good. > And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how > brave > their parents were. > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message