to all the kids

Russ Spence

Commercial Pressure Wash Expert
TO ALL THE KIDS

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 koolade 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 or CD's, 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 as
kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives



for our own good.



And 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?!​
 
It sure made me think of the past. Video games, I rode my bike all day, I even went across the river, to the bike and hike, It would take a hour of hard riding of bunny hops, garbage can side kicks, and ramps.:eek:

Matt
 
Lets not forget being tuff was going knuckle to knuckle, not gun to gun.

We even grew up with common sense!

This really hits a nerve with me, Not about us, but my (our) kids! I had one of my kids that did not know how to shut the t.v. down with out a remote. Heck my name was channel 6 for years.

Matt
 
I grew up in "flat" south florida and we would ride our bike half the morning to the pier or the intercoastal with a tackle box in one hand and a pole in the other picking up bottles along the way to get the 10ct deposits from so we could buy some shrimp or squid for bait! Long sentence huh.
 
Punishment was having to stay inside. Now kids are dropping dead at football practice because it's to hot. You didn't dare say it's to hot or ask for water at my practices, now it's mandatory and coaches are getting sued!
 
I was born in 1957. Based on all you youngsters birthdays I gues I'm lucky to still be alive. Man I was in high school when some of you were born.
 
1972... Raised in a very poor area. We were on Food Stamps and very little from a Father That I've met maybe a half dozen times. Definitely no video games for my sister and I. Our imagination was all we had. Learned how to fight early. And also learned that the only way out of poverty was to learn as much as I could.

Hell, I would stay at school as much as I could just to get a chance to get on a Computer and because we didn't have AC at home. LOL.

Kids today got it good. Get spoiled by us that didn't have much I guess. I sometimes think I keep my Son on too much of a leash because of all the freakos out there. I don't even get him to the playground very often because of all the wackos.
 
I laugh at this because I did all of those things at 12 I rode my by 8 towns over, about 25 miles from home with a couple other kids no adults and it was fine. Now I have a kid the chances of him doing that are slim do to to many people that ate the lead paint out there!

i did too we would go anywhere our legd could peddle....getting back sucked though ,never seemed to far over there but going home took forever
 
1942 for me, my kids say "Dad, you're older than Dirt!" Yeh, I know many of you folks are my kids age! :)

On the farm, I drove tractors n trucks when I was 12. I was driving on the highway when I was 14. Made solo trips to Chicago (50 miles) in our farm truck when I was 15 (folks didn't know about that). ;)

Had my first date when I was 16. I married her when I was 19. Been married almost 45 years! :) Never dated anyone else. She is my best friend. I've known her for 75% of my life! :)

Damm, I don't feel that Old! :D

Dave Olson
 
1952 is mine. I remember at about 9 going to town Sat. with a 22 rifle tied to the handle bars meeting up with 2 to 3 other guys, go to the hardware store buy shells for whatever gun we had and then went ot to the creek to shoot. if an adult did that now much less a kid there would be police all over.
 
1947, we took guns to school,I wrote our excuses so we could go motorcycling in teh afternoon. we always made it to work on time. One night of the weekend was for girls, the other night was motorcycling. Last year was our 40 th class reunion, most of us are reasonably successful. Todays kids are wimps compared to us. The guys I hung with all had jobs, we paid for our bikes/cars/most of college. We rode our bicycles all over the area, camped out by ourselves.
 
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