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Growing Up In America

BrianD3 2012/07/18 11:07:42
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This is so true,

Born 1930 - 1979

You definitely need to read the statement by Jay Leno. Oh so true.


Those of You Born
1930 - 1979


At the end of this post there is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.. If you don't
read anything else, PleaseRead what he Said.
Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

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-base paints.


We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.


As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no
brakes.


Riding in the back of a pick-up truck 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, real butter and bacon..
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?


Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!


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 them 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 and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no 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 as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good .


While you are at it, forward 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 ?


The quote of the
month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another,
and with the threat of swine flu
and terrorist attacks.
Are we sure this is a good time
to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Add a comment above

Top Opinion

  • DS in Oak Ridge NC 2012/07/18 11:17:39
    I did most of those things!
    DS in Oak Ridge NC
    +11
    Those were the days. Simpler times, sure, but we made it through, and still learned lessons about caring for others and self-reliance that pay dividends to the present day.

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Opinions

  • P. Sturm 2012/09/15 06:54:47
    I did most of those things!
    P. Sturm
    Kids aren't allowed to do those things anymore.
  • wildcat 2012/08/30 03:09:52
    When I got in trouble, my parents did not enable me or bail me out
    wildcat
    I've been say that instead of worrying about school lunches we should require two hours of Phys Ed. every day K-12.
  • us 2012/08/28 22:31:12
    I drank water from a garden hose!
    us
    I should have checked we did most of these things. We would get everyone together go down the street and play baseball in the field, or catch frogs, during the winter i remember walking down the street with my ice skate and go skating, there was a small pond, It was free. Bike riding no helmets, we did not have to where seat belts. Every thing Jay leno wrote are things how it use to be, but there was respect, if you where bad in school they send to the office, and he got permission from parent to spake you, and
    when you got home, you where in trouble.

    GOD BLESS AMARICA.
  • james.harper.758737 2012/08/16 01:28:54
    I did most of those things!
    james.harper.758737
    +1
    I did everyone of those things: back in the day it was the norm.. and i turned out just fine.
  • BrianD3 james.h... 2012/08/16 16:52:30
    BrianD3
    most of us did
  • BoardinOK 2012/08/13 20:36:00
    I did most of those things!
    BoardinOK
    +2
    I'll admit that I never ate mud pies or worms...but I know kids that did. lol
  • I(◕‿◕✿)I 2012/08/13 05:36:15
    Heck, I STILL do most of those things!!
    I(◕‿◕✿)I
    +1
    I was born in 1996 though. I don't do all of those things anymore (running with scissors, go-carts, running around until the street lights came on), but the other stuff is still true.
  • oros 2012/08/08 05:00:17 (edited)
    Heck, I STILL do most of those things!!
    oros
    +2
    And swimming naked in the streams with your mates was what we did at every opportunity in summer without getting poisoned or sent for therapy to determine ones sexuality.
    Only thing that was a threat if you can call it that were the leeches when did you last see one of them in a stream.
  • Tennessee3501 2012/08/08 00:40:28
    I did most of those things!
    Tennessee3501
    +2
    I had a beautiful childhood! No complaints! Well, maybe the poison ivy!
  • BrianD3 Tenness... 2012/08/09 11:29:12
    BrianD3
    +3
    poison ivy, poison oak, nettles and more....but sometimes they make for good stories.

    when we were kids and camping my brother took a squat behind some bushes to pinch a loaf, grabbed some leaves to wipe.....and you guessed it....poison ivy...
  • Tenness... BrianD3 2012/08/09 16:35:33
    Tennessee3501
    +2
    I bet he was embarrassed!
  • BrianD3 Tenness... 2012/08/10 11:31:38
    BrianD3
    +1
    you bet!
  • buneter 2012/08/07 15:03:24
  • BrianD3 buneter 2012/08/09 11:27:27
    BrianD3
    awesome!!
  • Bill 2012/08/07 14:02:36
    I did most of those things!
    Bill
    +3
    Those were the good old days, before liberalism and political correctness destroyed America.

    days liberalism political correctness destroyed america
  • BrianD3 Bill 2012/08/09 11:29:33
    BrianD3
    +1
    I still have both eyes
  • 'Zedd 2012/08/07 11:58:02
  • Tracie Richards 2012/08/07 11:20:16
    Heck, I STILL do most of those things!!
    Tracie Richards
    +4
    And if we got splinters, cut, or scrapes we rubbed dirt in them and kept going because we knew if we went home crying, not only would we be mocked as "babies" by our friends, but our parents would make us stop playing and come inside! Oo
  • BrianD3 Tracie ... 2012/08/09 11:30:17
    BrianD3
    and who wants to come inside?
  • mikeeonly 2012/08/04 13:31:48
    I did most of those things!
    mikeeonly
    +1
    yep, can't quie figure it out now though
  • Elz 2012/08/03 20:57:33
    I did most of those things!
    Elz
    +1
    i did most of those things and i weren't born in none of those decades. but instead of running around the house with scissors i ran around with a knife and my mom told me to "stop running around with that knife!!!!"
  • BrianD3 Elz 2012/08/09 11:30:44
    BrianD3
    haha, cool!!
  • Elz BrianD3 2012/08/09 17:21:27
    Elz
    +1
    lol XD
  • Swordfish 2012/08/03 18:23:59
    I did most of those things!
    Swordfish
    +1
    I did all those things except for the go-cart and my parents didn't love me enough to buy me a BB gun. And I was born in 1996. I don't see how this means you gotta be born in the 60s or 70s...
  • BrianD3 Swordfish 2012/08/09 11:31:52
    BrianD3
    +1
    you are right but the current trend in our society seems to be to baby children and go way too far to protect them. Glad your parents gave you freedom to be a child and have fun.
  • Swordfish BrianD3 2012/08/09 16:24:08
    Swordfish
    +1
    I am too, it's really a blessing. I have 2 little cousins who spend all their time sitting inside playing video games or watching TV, and I don't consider that a childhood :/
  • Harley 2012/08/02 21:06:12
    I did most of those things!
    Harley
    +1
    Seems like a lifetime ago compared to now days!
  • BrianD3 Harley 2012/08/09 11:32:02
    BrianD3
    I agree
  • angie45 2012/08/02 15:26:07
    I rode my bike without a helmet
    angie45
    +1
    i had fun!!
  • BrianD3 angie45 2012/08/09 11:32:32
    BrianD3
    +1
    these days you have police hassle you for it, like they have nothing better to do..
  • angie45 BrianD3 2012/08/09 16:21:42
    angie45
    +1
    I Agree!!
  • Jimbo 2012/08/02 05:19:40
    I did most of those things!
    Jimbo
    +4
    This is my childhood. It's makes me almost want to cry.
  • AZTEC WARRIOR 2012/08/02 02:48:28
    Heck, I STILL do most of those things!!
    AZTEC WARRIOR
    +2
    I'LL DO ANYTHING TO PASS THE TIME
  • jimmie 2012/08/01 22:54:11
    I did most of those things!
    jimmie
    +3
    Even Grew up on my Grandfathers farm.
  • BrianD3 jimmie 2012/08/09 11:32:57
    BrianD3
    that has got to be an awesome experience
  • Darth Vader.BN-0 2012/08/01 10:42:17
    Heck, I STILL do most of those things!!
    Darth Vader.BN-0
    +3
    It fun. XD
  • Andy Fletcher 2012/08/01 08:52:54
    I did most of those things!
    Andy Fletcher
    +4
    All that and more, much more. After our crap ass "father" left ( I was 6) we climbed onto the roof of the house with his bowling ball and dropped it down onto the concrete driveway to see if we could break it. We broke the driveway,lol, barely chipped the ball. So of course we tried it a second time. Broke the drive some more,not the ball. Took the bedsheets and made parachutes and jumped off the roof. Of course they didn't work. Not a failure of design of course, we just lamented that the roof wasn't high enough for it to work. My older brother, at 9 or 10 found an old transformer for a neon light in the garage. He made a Jacobs ladder out of it with coat hangers and we had a blast with it. I didn't much care for the other kids at the bus stop so in second grade I started walking the half mile or so to and from school by myself. On Halloween we would be out till 10 and if folks didn't like us knocking on their door they were free to holler at us. One year after 4 costume changes I wound up with two pillowcases full of candy. By third grade I was walking down to Puget Sound in Tacoma to fish, just catch crabs or play on the beach, walk along the railroad tracks, look at the big boats at the boatyards and marinas. At low tide we reach into the cracks of a see wall and try and t...

    All that and more, much more. After our crap ass "father" left ( I was 6) we climbed onto the roof of the house with his bowling ball and dropped it down onto the concrete driveway to see if we could break it. We broke the driveway,lol, barely chipped the ball. So of course we tried it a second time. Broke the drive some more,not the ball. Took the bedsheets and made parachutes and jumped off the roof. Of course they didn't work. Not a failure of design of course, we just lamented that the roof wasn't high enough for it to work. My older brother, at 9 or 10 found an old transformer for a neon light in the garage. He made a Jacobs ladder out of it with coat hangers and we had a blast with it. I didn't much care for the other kids at the bus stop so in second grade I started walking the half mile or so to and from school by myself. On Halloween we would be out till 10 and if folks didn't like us knocking on their door they were free to holler at us. One year after 4 costume changes I wound up with two pillowcases full of candy. By third grade I was walking down to Puget Sound in Tacoma to fish, just catch crabs or play on the beach, walk along the railroad tracks, look at the big boats at the boatyards and marinas. At low tide we reach into the cracks of a see wall and try and take the octopi out. Most of the time it wasn't real clear who had who. Those things are strong! In Seattle we lived next to a steep hill that was two blocks long and a 35 to 40 degree angle. In summer we road our homemade go-carts down it. Sometimes we would even set them on fire. We were constantly getting in trouble for burning through the soles of our shoes using them for breaks. The winter of 69-70 we had a couple feet of snow. We packed both blocks of that hill down to ice with our big inner tubes and THEN road the sleds and toboggans down it. We rode our bikes with no helmets. Got my foot caught in the spokes riding double on the handlebars, ripped my shoe apart. Damn that hurt! We would take 24" stingray bikes, put a 16" wheel on the back, cut another set set of forks up and jam them on to the front and make "choppers", then jump them over make shift ramps. My parents wouldn't let us have BB guns but that was fine. Some of my friends had 3 or 4. And yes, we would shoot each other with them. Nobody lost an eye. We played tackle football in the street. Yes, we got hurt sometimes. Did we learn anything from any of it, like not to do it again? Not really. We just looked for a way to do it without getting hurt. Had a smart ass on Lake Washington lost his paddle one late fall day. The water was too cold for him to go after it so he offered my little brother 5 bucks to go after it. Norm said "No way dude! 10 bucks!". The guy gave him the ten bucks. Next summer he was down there again. His boat was a flat bottom drag boat called the Spanish Onion, that he raced as well as drove for fun. He remembered us and offered to teach me how to water ski. He got his revenge. He went from zero to 80 or so in about seconds. I got up just long enough for the bar to be ripped out of my hands and go bouncing across the water. Had something happened to me, my parents wouldn't have thought of suing. They would have punished me for embarrassing them.

    WE HAD FUN!!! and we created that fun. Now I rarely see kids playing outside, no matter the weather. It makes me sad. You just haven't lived unless you've stuck your head in a killer whale's mouth.
    (more)
  • Jimbo Andy Fl... 2012/08/02 05:26:55
    Jimbo
    +2
    Sounds a lot like my childhood. We made our own fun.
  • Mikel_mad2002 2012/08/01 08:22:31
    I did most of those things!
    Mikel_mad2002
    +2
    Blame the lawyers and compensation culture
  • BrianD3 Mikel_m... 2012/08/09 11:34:12
    BrianD3
    +1
    that is a big part of the problem, well that and the nanny state

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