The Good Old Days

I always go on about the " good old days " like I'm 99 years old.

But when you're 54 and looking back it's only normal that you remember all of the good - I think it's a natural process because that's the recollection you have of YOUR life.

The thing that stands out for me the most - right at the top - is the respect that was instilled in us from the time we could speak.  We were a far more polite generation than today - sorry but that's just the way it is. And it was a time of freedom - we weren't leaden down with schedules as kids back then -
We ate - ran out the door - and more often then not - returned when the next meal was being placed on the table.

You've all read this I'm sure - with a smile on your face and a certain pride for being a child of that era

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

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, 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, white bread and real 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 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!

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 ALL!

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.

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

But we weren't perfect - oh boy - we were so far from perfect it's scary.

Look Ma, no helmuts - 
I can remember riding on the back of one of my Uncles motorcycles without a helmut - not far - just around the block - but no one ever thought to put a helmut on my 7 year old head - or on my 19 year old Uncle's head for that matter - every one had a big smile on their face - yelling " Good Luck - Have fun "  IDIOTS - we may look back and smile at this - but it was just recklessly stupid really

Duck - they're out for a Sunday afternoon drive -
There are so many infractions here I cringe to write it but here was a typical Sunday afternoon drive
in the 60's or early 70's.
Too many people in the car
NO seatbelts whatsoever
Babies sitting in laps
Garbage being tossed out the window - ( need to blow your nose?  ugggh - get rid of that tissue - just throw it out the window )
3 or 4 adults happily blowing smoke into that small enclosed space
Kids sitting with their heads hanging out the window

Driving while intoxicated or being driven by someone who was
If you're my age ( and obviously not Mormon ) you have some sort of memory of this.
I know we're all appalled by this today - but the fact still remains that this was a very common
practice back in the day - with some idiot proclaiming " I drive better when I've had a few drinks "
and a bunch of idiots piling into the back seat................though I never drove drunk I was a passenger many times of someone who should not have been behind the wheel.

Let the sunshine in 
Not only did we not wear sunscreen - WE ACTUALLY SMEARED OURSELVES IN BABY OIL -
to literally cook our skin - and bought these space age looking contraptions that were basically tin foil fold outs that we held in front of our face to make sure the rays centered there most of all !!!

Who let the dogs out?
Dogs were just let out the front door - it didn't matter if they were vicious - they roamed the streets on their own ( can you imagine - I mean really - can you imagine ? )  Did their business where ever they pleased - PICKING IT UP?  GROSS - ARE YOU NUTS?
Spring was always a great season - because when the snow melted - Voila - instant brown art everywhere
And most of us have a horror story or 2 about being chased by a stray crazed dog - jumping out of nowhere -

Don't be a stranger
Front doors were not locked - anyone could walk in and out - and if that weren't bad enough I can't recall an incident where a stranger wouldn't be invited in if he knocked on the door asking to use the phone -
In fact one of my girlfriends awoke one morning to her Father kicking a homeless man out of their home - he had wandered in and taken refuge on the couch for the night LMHO - really not funny at all - but really funny none the less!!!

Now aren't you all happy we're so much wiser now?

And guess what?  This wild and crazy bunch of teenagers - will one day be another version of US - looking back and smiling -
And looking in horror at what teenagers of the next generation do................

So.......................while we get all warm and fuzzy looking back - let's never forget how reckless and foolish we were - and yes - stupid.

The only difference I can see is that we were politely stupid.

Have a great day,
A survivor :)