- 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 tin, and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cots 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 hitch hiking.
- As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a van – loose – was always great fun.
- We drank water from the garden hosepipe 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 cakes, white bread and real butter and drank 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 text messaging, no Computer’s, 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 played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
- Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it poke eyes out, it never happened.
- We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Don’t you just feel like running around the house with a knife in your hand?
now must people born in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s are overweight, worrying about retirement, obsessed with their cellular phone because they are workaholics, using up social security and medicare and making sure that their children do none of the things in the above list. congratulations!
Not true, most kids born in the 80’s and 90’s are over-weight. Thise born in the 40’s are already retired, and those born in the 50’s and 60’s will see social security, but not those born in the 80’s and 90’s.
While, like Josh I could easily point out the failings that this generation has, (like the lead paint takes a generation or two to cause the most damage) this list points out a very important fact. Children don’t act like children any more. Plus we have become rather over protective and coddling of our children.
Thanks for raising us with all those faults you just mentioned.
-Gen X
We didn’t raise you on what we did as kids.
You continue to suck our economy dry and leave nothing but debt for future generations! Congratulations!
But you’re part of the same economy right? Who sucking what? :)
I think the point of Flip H was that the generation in power now (40’s and 50’s gen, and to a lesser extent 60’s gen) are in charge and bear great responsibility for the economic disaster on the horizon, allowing governments to take away our rights in the name of security, allowing corporations to openly control political debate at the expense of the citizenry, allowing politicians to bleed social security, medicare and medicaid dry leaving nothing for those that come after gen 40 and gen 50, allowing bankers to control monetary policy and bail out their banker friends and corporate friends bleeding countries dry of their real wealth, allowing corporations to outsource, offshore and dismantle factories for third-world countries with cheap labor while at the same time allowing illegal and legal workers who clearly work for much less lowering the standards of living for the citizens of nations. Gen 40 and 50 are in charge and have been for some time. This happened on their watch. Those who come after have little to thank them for.
I could be wrong but I think that’s what Flip H meant.
Ahhh and don’t forget the visits to Grandpa’s house. You know where Grandma kept a coffee can on the stove, so as not to waste the pure pork fat bacon grease to fry whatever she wanted to in!
I also remember Grandpa showing how you could use broken thermometer mercury to shine up a dime and make it look like brand new, just by holding a little bubble of mercury in you and and rubbing it on the dime.
“Playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of 51, smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo, now don’t tell me, there’s nothing to do!”
Oops! Skip that last part must have been the mercury and lead in my system kicking in!
Some of you got a bit too serious here and missed the point. At least the point I saw in the post.
As fool pointed out in response 9. There are a lot of great memories from those times. They were times that growing up was much different than these days! Aaaahh, the memories.
Guess it’s all relative though!
Born in 55 and lovin’ life.
Curt – Thanks for the comment and you’re right it does bring back great memories.