60s Child
I was a child of the 60s (though not in Australia) and I really love this:
Some reminiscences to brighten your day
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in
the 50's, 60's, and 70's probably shouldn't have survived, because......
Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was
promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or
latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode
our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on
our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air
bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with
sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside
playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one
actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed
down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into
stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave
home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got
dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels
on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal
computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found
them. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or
rung the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no
lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we learned to
get over it.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and
although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out,
nor did the worms live inside us forever. We rode bikes in packs of 7
and wore our coats by only the hood.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent
bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the
law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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're one of them. Congratulations!
Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids, before
lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. (If you aren't
old enough, though, you might like to read about us).
anonymous
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