I just loved this junk mail I got this morning... I was born in the 1970s and feel it applies to me in so many ways. I am interested to hear what people who were born outside those times think of it.....

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN 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 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
coloured 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 yelled for them!

Footy 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!

And 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 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?

A few things still hold true for my kids. They holler for their friends, they live in the street and they play in the street. They spend a lot of time at the park but it is one of those "kidsafe" ones. They do play on the computer and watch TV but spend a lot off time outside also...

Ok, I was born in the forties, and I recall all those things going on.

We didn't have TV, or a car and those who did have a car had very little petrol to drive anywhere. (petrol rationing).

We had a radio, which used lead acid batteries for the A battery, and we had two sets of them. (one set in use, and one being charged at the electrical shop)

For milk, we put a billy out on the steps, and the milkman would come around with his horse and cart, and his quart pot (with a flip up lid), and pour the fresh (unpasturised) milk into the billy.

I'm still alive. (at the moment)

I really pine for the freedom it suggests we once had. I think my kids miss out in a way...

I miss exploring canals...

There ain't no big drains or canals in Sydney

Hang on. They do have tours for the old sewers in the city. I have always wanted to do it and have never gotten around to it. I did tear out an ad from a metro paper once but have since lost it after many moves... I will come with you. It would be fun. The other thing I have always weanted to do is one of those architecture walks....

No no.... I'm not looking for a tour....

I'm looking for a drain I could jump into and walk around, catch tadpoles, have fun in! 

Not to keen on Dekrazee's drains (sounds smelly) but do remember lots of streams and rivers.

they weren't smelly.... as long as the water is flowing, they don't smell

Had a biz associate years ago in S'pore called Gerald Lim. Well, one day Mr Lim Snr was walking down the road minding his own business and he fell into a drain and never came out. Hope that wasn't the one you were playing in Rai.

Probably not....

I would have remembered coming across a dead human body 

We used to catch penny turtles in our local drain.

My kids run through the house with scissors.

What are penny turtles?

Very small ones

ahhh

Why do I have a feeling that all of these posts are months old?

Cos they are

Me thinks the parents got too busy.... kids these days

Why do I have a feeling that all of these posts are months old?

Maybe because  you can see the dates they were posted??