BORN B4 1980

[Tooostep1955]

Born before 1980?

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's...

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. 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 kool-aid 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 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound, CD's or Ipods! No cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or 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 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!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives so much, than for our own good.

And while you are at it, share it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!   

(Author Unknown)

And my own two cents worth... God wasn't "dead"!

[joyful1]

ahahah! thanks for the trip down memory lane there tooostep! You forgot to put in that.....if it was hot enough to go swimming...we went swimming ALL DAY LONG!! and stayed in our wet bathing suits until well after supper time!  we always had shriveled up fingers from being in the water too long!  I grew up in Florida and even the sandspurs were not enough to deter me from the waves on a hot summer day! joyful1

[hillsbororiver]

From someone who was born wayyyyyyy before 1980 (26 years to be exact) I can say this rings very true, it is incredible how much more complex the world is now and how freedoms and much of the simplicity of day to day life has diminished over the years.

Peace,

Joe 

[Akira329]

I've gotten this email so many times and the times I ve read it, I really missed my childhood.
Its so hard for me to imagine raising a child in times like this.
I remember the long bike rides, the trips to the creek, all before the street light came on!!
Making friends was so easy!

[LittleBear]

Thanks Don,

Yes, those were the good old days, and we did survive! Love it!

Ursula

[LadyRanae]

hey! I survived!! I was born in 1973! It boggles the mind how kids survive now adays.
~ Lady Ranae

[joyful1]

okay....granted...sometimes boredom would fuel some of the craziest schemes imaginable! For instance; I was just remembering one hot summer afternoon, when there was "nothin' to do" and my brother came up with a GRAND idea! We took sticks and herded my uncle's cattle, about a dozen or so into the loading pens near our house....then we locked the gate behind them and sat on the fences and threw sticks at them to see what they would do. (could we have been any more stupid?)  Lo and behold, one fine longhorn steer decided that time was up for me and my brother...he kicked down the gate or a side fence, I can't remember exactly how he got out...but he headed straight for us kicking his heels up and bellowing and running at us....I outran my younger brother to the edge of the pasture and held the barbwire fence up for him.  He barely escaped being trampled to death by throwing himself under it in a skid for home base!  We were scrapped up from the barbwire, out of breath and scared silly....but do you think we would tell our mom what had happened and get a spanking?...and then have to go to the doctor's office for the dreaded tetanus shot? no way!! We survived.  It just wasn't our day! Never tried that particular stunt again...but never forgot it either! Man o man!
Joyce

[gmik]

Some great memories there.

WE would go on picnics, swimming, or whatever and LEAVE THE POTATO SALAD OUT ALL DAY LONG!!!

Seriously, what turned this country into a bunch of wooses (wusses?) well, you know what I mean!

[joyful1]

Gena! Hahahahah! Soooo true!! Didn't need "sterilized" dishes from the dish washer either! How did we EVER make it?

Joyce

[Tooostep1955]

Kewl Replies All,

I really got a chuckle from the Longhorn chase! I was born in Galveston,Tx. and I have been around a pile or three of that good'ol nuer (pronounced - newer) also went to the 'crick' and caught crawdads till our fingers bled - didn't tell neither, them tetanus shots hurt! 

Please note also, I did not originate all those kewl memories, so I "Author Unknown" it. 

Born 9-14-1955 and earned every bruise I got (deserved most too!)  Spell ck is gonna be fried on this un! HAhahahah 

[rvhill]

man the 70s were fun(born 1969) I miss playing with 11.Battlestar Galactica Missile Launcher  10. Johnny Reb Cannon 9. Creepy Crawlers 8. Bat Masterson Derringer Belt Gun 2. Lawn Darts were endless fun, and I don't remember anyone getting killed or maimed by them. I was to young to get to play with the 4. Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab

from the list of the most deadly toys

http://radaronline.com/features/2007/11/sky_dancers.php

[musicman]

UUUmm, Battle Star what?  Creepy Crawlers.  That was the 80s man.

[rvhill]

Battle star was 79. Creepy Crawlers were in the 70s I think they got banned in the late 80s or early 90s