I am a Survivor are you?

[MadWags]

THOSE BORN 1920-1979

TO
ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED 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 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 child proof 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 and 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 Kool-aid 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 OK.

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 chatrooms.......
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
poke 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 .

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?!

[bassinman#1]

AND WE GOT A WHIPPIN FROM OUR PARENTS WHEN WE LIED, TALKED BACK, STOLE, DID BAD IN SCHOOL, DID NOT DO OUR CHORES, ETC. BUT NOW THEY CALL IT CHILD ABUSE. NOW LOOK AT THE KIDS TODAY. NO REPECT FOR ANY AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER. AND THEY ARE SO OUT OF LINE.

[fiker]

Not from just our parents, but every adult in the neighborhood. 
We were truly raised by the village. 

[dashaver63]

Not to mention every teacher in school too.

[motocross269]

I lived in the country...Seriously the only TV I wathced until I became an adult was saturday morning cartoons...

[dashaver63]

YEP, me too. We had a black and white Zenith that only got the 3 Toledo stations and PBS. Gunsmoke was a Monday night staple in our house.( along with Lawrence Welk on PBS Saturday nights) I really miss those days, life was so uncomplicated. I actually read books back then, plus listening to baseball on WJR. Paul Carey and Ernie Harwell were and are heroes to me. Everyone that I knew had strong family values, went to church every Sunday. We would take trips to visit family on Sundays, take our summer vacation to West Virginia to see my dads side of the family for 2 weeks in July. Plus, all us kids knew right from wrong and there were strong consequences if we did wrong! But we were happy, and mom and dad didn't have to spend hundreds of dollars buying us the electronic toys like today. I got a new fishing rod and baseball glove for Christmas most years, (along with the mandatory socks and underwear) I remember my best Christmas present ever was when I got my Daisy Red Rider BB gun, and shot CANS with it, not windows like some kids do today.
During the Summer, while mom and dad was at work, They didn't have to worry about us kids being home alone all day, and we knew to get our chores done before they got home. After we got everything done we were supposed to, then we would go outside. There was a small pond next to our house we would swim in and fish in, and the neighbor folks would kind of watch us that we didn't get hurt, not because they thought we were there to destroy property.
And our teachers? Man, I think every one of them had a collection of paddles, and they were not shy about using them either, if you needed it, you got it! Even sometimes if you didn't need it, you got it anyway just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, guilt by association I guess.
I really do miss those days, since I lost my dad 2 years ago, nothing has been the same, and talking about this really takes me back. Yes, I miss those days!

[djkimmel]

My bus driver in Jr high, Martha would pull over and chase people who threw snowballs at the bus. She one time followed a guy to his house who drove through the flashing red lights, blocked his driveway and called the police!!

One day when the twins decided they could smoke something on the bus, she pulled over, threw them off, called the bus super and their parents and told them what she did, and where she kicked them out at along M-21!!! You did NOT MESS with Martha!!!

[Cheetam]

And our teachers? Man, I think every one of them had a collection of paddles, and they were not shy about using them either, if you needed it, you got it! Even sometimes if you didn't need it, you got it anyway just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, guilt by association I guess.

I remember paddles.  Most had holes drilled in them and had names like "Spanky" written on them.  I had one teacher who hung his next to his desk as a reminder.

[Firefighter Jeff]

Hmmmm  I recall the paddle at school.  lolol  I recently read that there is a big turn over of new teachers.  Like 30% in the first three years.  They said a big part of the reason was they now had to do more teaching of things that should have been learned at home, like discipline, manners, respect, etc.

[bassassasin88]

 To be fair I was born in 81, but kids are soft these days. Evolution is at a stand still with all the safety features and rules. It kills me to see all these kids with there goofy helmets, come on. Live a little. It used to be only the strong survive. Look at all the lead we deal with, Im fine.

[Revtro]

Chalk me up as a lucky survivor.  LOL  When I was a kid, there was no such thing as a "warning".  When I violated a rule there were swift consequences.  I never had a time out.  I had a month long grounding with no reprieve and smack upside my head for being an idiot. 

I did not grow up with low self-esteem or desire to be an axe murderer.  I was not scarred for life from getting the occasional beat down when I needed it.    Instead I grew up with a sense of discipline that most kids have no concept of these days. 

Yes, I'm a lucky survivor... how did I ever make it?  ha ha

[motocross269]

People have changed also...I was up at Hick's lake picking up my boat last weekend..My family has been on that lake for over 60 years....Anyway..I had my daughter up there and she was fishing from shore, and i got to thinking, years ago I used to run around the lake fishing from all of the neighbors docks and the ladies would bring me out snacks and ask how I was doing...They knew I was the Bennett boy....Nowadays people would throw you off from their docks in a heartbeat and call you tresspasser.....It is sad what this world has come to.  Heck, most people don't even know their neighbors anymore let alone their kids...

[bassinman#1]

A lady ask me a question the other day and me being polite I said "yes ma'am" and she yelled at me and said "don't you ma'am me"

[MadWags]

LOL!

[djkimmel]

"don't you ma'am me"

I wonder is she knows her response is actually old-fashioned too??

[Jay-MadWags]

You are sooooo right dashaver.  Teachers don't receive any respect from these students today.  I should know, I'm a teacher.  Four years ago in my first year of teaching I had a fifth grade boy flip me off in class and then deny it.  Aparently he didn' want to do the art project I had planned for the class because he found it too difficult.  I called him out in front of the class and sent him to see the principal.  He got suspended for two days. 

Last year when I was writing my Master's thesis I was visiting another elementary school in the district to interview a teacher who was collecting data for me.  Now this school is down the street fromm the middle school.  When I was crossing the street I had some middle school punks throw a snowball at me and hit me in the back.  The elementary school principal saw the whole thing.  I took their names and numbers and went to the middle school to report it to the principal.  He contacted me the next day to tell me that he suspended two of the for two days.  Can you believe the students' moms complained and female doged at the principal saying he was in the wrong for taking this action.  Imagine if those kids would have done that to some other adult who wasn't a teacher in the district.  Guaranteed the would have been white washed.  Maybe that what those little jerks needed.  Did I say that??