us who were kids in the 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 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and
riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the
garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate
chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice 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
could play all day, as long As we were back before it got dark. No one
was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play
stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no
videotape movies, no surround sound, no Mobile phones, no personal
computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went
outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes
that ball really hurt!; We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones
but there were no law suits. We had full on fist fights but no
prosecution followed from other parents. We played
knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the Owners catching
us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to
school; we didn't rely on Mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was
just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.
We rode bikes in Packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea
of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they
actually sided with the law. 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 as real kids, before lawyers and
government regulated our lives, for our own good. For those of you who
aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us. This my
friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on
your face: The majority of students in universities today were born
in 1986........they are called youth. They have never heard of We are
the World, We are the children, and the Uptown Girl they know is by
Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley,
Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle. For them, there has
always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. AIDS has existed since
they were born. C D's have existed since they were born. Michael
Jackson has always been white. To them John Travolta has always been
round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of
dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are
films From last year. They can never imagine life before computers.
They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazard Or
the Famous Five They can't believe a black and white television ever
existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house
without a mobile phone. Now let's check if we're getting old...1.
You understand what was written above and you smile. 2 . You need to
sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out. 3. Your
friends are getting married/already married. 4. You are always surprised
to see small children playing comfortably with computers. 5. When you
see children with mobile phones, you shake your head.
redleg
