Made in America, circa 1940s & 50s

[OMR]

This may be a bit old for a lot of you... but here's how I was raised in some would say the dark ages:

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, and tuna from a can.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs 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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, 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, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, 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 OK.
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 Play-stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound, CD's or I-pods, no cell phones!, no personal computers , no Internet or chat rooms.......
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many 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 had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have 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 ALL!
If YOU, are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Old Man Riding... my bike the way I see fit![/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana]

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[slowSSer]

you know, pretty much all of that applies to some of us young whipper-snappers as well, ya geezer!

[Fired Yo Momma]

sooo true, I used to tell my ex-girlfriend's daughter she might have not made it in my time. The poor girl did not know how to ride a bike until I taught her at the age of 11. Wait I still don't know how to ride a bike.

[jeffj]

And now that we're parents, what do we do with our own children???

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by OMR

This may be a bit old for a lot of you... but here's how I was raised in some would say the dark ages:

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, and tuna from a can. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]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.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]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. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because. WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]No one was able to reach us all day. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]And we were OK.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]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.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We did not have Play-stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound, CD's or I-pods, no cell phones!, no personal computers , no Internet or chat rooms....... [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]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! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana]If YOU, are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! [/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Old Man Riding... my bike the way I see fit![/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Seen this one before and still rattles my cage.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]However I am a product of the 70’snot the 40's and 50's[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The two things on the list that gets me are the overweight kids and water bottles.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]My son plays football and his coach was congratulating the players that dropped a bunch of weight. 10 to 15 pounds for 10 year olds! My thought is why were they so over weight in the first place. They should have apologized for showing up to camp out of shape![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Next water bottles AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH My front lawn is covered with them on a daily basis (we have a bunch of kids on our street). I told my wife that they should drink out of the hose or I could install a drinking fountain. She said I was crazy[/SIZE][/FONT]

[foofighter]

seriously the water in a bottles thing is out of hand...we b1tch about gas being high but we dont think about paying in excess of $5 a gallon for special water.

and kids these days are softies...coddled about everything so that they will be OK with things...no wonder some kids act like the world is going to end if they dont get fill in the blank

[J_Sims]

You make some very good points and i love every one of them...

this typed response to an internet forum typed on a personal computer with one hand while using the wireless controller for my x-box 360 to virtually put eyes out all over the world as I sip fom my bottle of evian and munch on my low carb high protein meal eplacement bar. so there... it's hot outside....

[MuddyEdgar]

.....................and we sure as hell wouldn't pay more than $100.00 for a bike.

LOOK AT US NOW paying over $1,000.00 + upgrades.

Even OMR is guilty of this.

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by MuddyEdgar

.....................and we sure as hell wouldn't pay more than $100.00 for a bike.

LOOK AT US NOW paying over $1,000.00 + upgrades.

Even OMR is guilty of this.

I could sell my "need" for a $1,000 bike to my wife. But $2,000 for a frame.............well I got my work cut out

[OMR]

Originally Posted by MuddyEdgar

.....................and we sure as hell wouldn't pay more than $100.00 for a bike.

LOOK AT US NOW paying over $1,000.00 + upgrades.

Even OMR is guilty of this.

One difference is that we use to work on cars like we work on bikes today. You could take a car engine apart and put it back together... something I dare you to do today.... but we can still take bikes apart and put them back together...

OMR

[MuddyEdgar]

Originally Posted by OMR

One difference is that we use to work on cars like we work on bikes today. You could take a car engine apart and put it back together... something I dare you to do today.... but we can still take bikes apart and put them back together...

OMR

I rest my case your honor.

[mechmann]

reversing the process of natural selection, that is an interesting topic... but i know that i will piss off too many people talking about it here!

there was a time when one could choose to do something improperly, and pay the penalty in the event something went wrong. everything is now illegal. i wonder how the government is going to come up with legislation that gets rid of the obesity problem...

[CeeDubb]

Originally Posted by mechmann

reversing the process of natural selection, that is an interesting topic... but i know that i will piss off too many people talking about it here!

there was a time when one could choose to do something improperly, and pay the penalty in the event something went wrong. everything is now illegal. i wonder how the government is going to come up with legislation that gets rid of the obesity problem...

Unfortunately, you can't legislate morality or behavior. It's gotta be taught and shaped by the parents...

[mechmann]

you mean you have to teach kids stuff? i thought the best way to deal with them was to put a bunch of junk food next to them while they watch TV all day? man i am out of touch!

[CeeDubb]

Originally Posted by mechmann

you mean you have to teach kids stuff? i thought the best way to deal with them was to put a bunch of junk food next to them while they watch TV all day? man i am out of touch!

Yeah...who woulda thunk it?

We now have a society that shelters the idiots from the process of natural selection.