LymeNet Flash: FOR THOSE BORN IN THE 40's, 50's & 60's

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Posted by weeza3 (Member # 6071) on :

Old but still good.

40's, 50's and 60's survivors

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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, bread and butter and drank soda pop 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 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 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell 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.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out any 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, football and baseball had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

We did what we were told, most of the time, and were soundly corrected when we didn't -- we were held accountable. Imagine that.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has 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!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

Posted by Sue vG (Member # 3143) on :

"We" are now the parents who insist on these things and file the lawsuits if our demands are not met.

Strange, no?

Posted by weeza3 (Member # 6071) on :

not sure I get your meaning Sue, we as parents are suing over what?

Posted by Sue vG (Member # 3143) on :

Suing when their kids get hurt through their own stupidity (like falling out of a tree) on someone else's property...going to the school board when everyone in the class doesn't get a trophy...shooting the coach when he bans their incorrigible kid from sports teams (remember, we just accepted not getting picked for the team)...on and on in that spirit.

Posted by dontlikeliver (Member # 4749) on :

I see what you're saying Sue, and it is sad.

Great thread though Weeza, it is so sad that that 'freedom' is not there for our kids today. I am a guilty parent in the sense that I will not give my 9 y.o. child hardly any freedom - certainly I wouldn't dream of letting her out in the morning and return in the evevning without knowing what she's doing where and with whom at all times. I will not even let her walk down the road by herself.

Luckily, my child is not an x-box, nintendo type 'addict', but she certainly lacks the freedom I had. I have probably been 'brainwashed' into being so overprotective and therefore 'depriving' her of adventures,using her imagination more, and learning some things through experiences she's missing out on.

I have read that statistically,there is no greater risk to children now than 40 years ago in terms of abductions, abuse, etc. Yet, the media's constant coverage of these things make us feel there is a huge risk.

Traffic though is another story I guess, there is probably more.

DLL

Posted by GEDEN13 (Member # 4151) on :

back around 58'59,my mother was told by her doc at the time"to lose weight take up smoking".

she tried it,but couldn't cut it. thankGod...gary

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Posted by Sue vG (Member # 3143) on :

In the 60s, my dad, whose job involved a lot of walking outdoors, was advised by his doctor to drink 1 or 2 beers a day on the job for hydration and nourishment.

After 33 years of following that advice, he has cirrhosis. He never drank in his free time, only very rarely at social gatherings.

Talk about lawsuit city -- if my dad were litigious and the doc were still alive and/or practicing.

Posted by Noob (Member # 7052) on :

Thx nice trip down memory lane.

Posted by HaplyCarlessdave (Member # 413) on :

Yes, I am grateful to be a pre-X-ie, too.
Much has been lost, But some has been gained, too-- however the gains must be chased after and made the most of, while the losses must be made-up for or eliminated.
Some say that we were 'safer' "back then"; ..."we could never let our kids do those things now"..., but that is not at all the case. There was plenty of street crime, and when you hitched to school 'cause you missed the bus, sometimes you'd get picked up by a van-load of hippies smoking reefer- of course they'd offer you a toke. And cigarettes were cheap- you could go into certain stores and buy 'em without an ID, for 35 cents a pack. They were more stringent with beer and wine, but lots of kids had a big brother. So we learned to deal with the pressures and balance them out at a young age.
And they didn't kick the cool teachers out of the school system, so you'd learn how to debate and were encouraged to think "outside the box".
No, I don't advocate "going back to those times". Instead we have to take the best and throw out the worst from all eras that have gone down up till now, and break into a new future of peace and harmony. But it's gonna take some serious fighting to get there, with the way things have gotten!
Every age has its own challenges.
DaveS

Turn a whiter
Shade of Pale

Posted by GEDEN13 (Member # 4151) on :

and don't forget "DUCK AND COVER"....gary

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