CONGRATULATIONS
TO ALL WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1930's, 1940's, 1950's
1960's and early 1970's
_____________
First, we survived being born to mothers who
smoked and/or drank while they carried us
and lived in houses made of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg
products, loads of bacon and processed meat,
tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for
diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were
covered with bright coloured lead based
paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
door or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we
had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks
we took hitchhiking.
As children we would ride in cars with no
seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and
not from a bottle.
Take-away food was limited to fish and chips,
no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway
or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00 pm and
didn't open at weekends, somehow we didn't
starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from
one bottle and no one died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them
in at the corner store and buy toffees,
gobstoppers and bubble gum ans some bangers
to blow up frogs with.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter
and drank soft drinks with sugar in them, 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 street
lights 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
old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find
out we forgot the brakes.
We built tree-houses and dens and played in river
beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo, Wii, X-boxes,
no video games at all, no 999 channels on Sky, no
video/dvd films. no mobile 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.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and
the worm did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns
at Easter time ......
We were given air guns and catapults for our
10th birthdays.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
yelled for them.
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make
ends meet.
Rugby and Cricket had tryouts and not everyone made
the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with
disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into the team
was based on merit.
Our teachers used to hit us with belts or canes and gym
shoes and bullies always ruled the playground at school.
The idea of a parent baling us out if we broke the law
was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids
like Kiora and Blade and Ridge and Vanilla.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.
---
And you were one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS
