For those of us born 50's, 60's, 70's & 80's

[kiwitt]

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80'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 'spokey dokey's'on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, 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 or can 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 could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations 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, and no Internet chat rooms. We had friends we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits.

We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played knock-and-run and were actualy afraid of the owners catching us.

We walked to friend's homes.

We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

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

[mercian billman]

I was born in 1986 so I guess I sort of count.

I remember playing pick up games in the culdusac, and knocking out a neighbors car window. All they asked was we pay them back through yard work or something.

I remember we used to build our own tree houses, with wood we found lying around, and with our dads tools which we always seemed to lose.

Our parents would just let us be kids but, always reminded us who was boss.

We made mistakes but, we were held accountable.

Kiwitt I'm only 17, and I'm home from school because it snowed 10 inches http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif but, your post sure made me reminisce about my childhood.

Sadly children being born today will be sheltered. All they're baseball will be played in parks, their dad's will build their tree houses , and their moms will let them get away with making a mess.

[Mysterium]

Oh, right. The lead-based paint. I forgot about *twitch* that. That explains so *twitch* much.

Heh. Just kidd *twitch* . . . kidding.

[Oberstein]

1980, a good year ^_^

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

So very true... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thinking2.gif ...the memories, the memories. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-cry.gif

Have a nice unpolitically correct http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif on me, kiwitt. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-thumbsup.gif

[Lord Of Storms]

A truly spot on post Kiwitt, being born in 1959,
I was growing up in just the environment you describe so well,
Kids for the most part are different today, they have many distractions to keep them indoors.
It is easy to get caught up in the fast pace, the technology.
I have many fond memories of late summer night baseball games on our neighborhood street, the streetlights, the fresh air, and we did not fear for our safety.
Long games of hide and seek in the woods near our home,
when all the children on the block would come to play together.
Building forts in dirt holes or trees, and playing army with your friends
We had Mini-Bikes not go karts, some of us were fortunate to have there Dad by them shiny new ones http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
While others were just as happy to throw one together from the scrap parts they could find.
We would race around a large field at the near by Dairy Farm, the same one that delivered the milk to our homes.
We would ride our stingray bikes with Banana seats long after the sun went down, and as you said no one worried that we would come to harm, it just wasnt commonplace as it is today.
Running like mad when we all heard the bells from the ice cream man's truck.
Those were simpler times,thanks for the stroll down memory lane mate.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif ...LOS

P.S. I also remember TV consisted of only 3 major networks, ABC,NBC and CBS, and there may have been maybe 6 or 7 channels 3 major networks, PBS, and 2 local channnels in my case WPIX cnannel 11 and WOR channel 9, Many was the time the family would gather to watch the preffrered form of entertainment of the time, which was the weekly variety shows.
I grew up on these, Dean Martin, Ed Sullivan,then, Johhny Cash, Glen Campbell, Sonny and Cher, Tom Jones, Flip Wilson,Smothers Brothers, The list goes on...LOS

[Voigtkampf]

That brought a tear to me eye…

If we were bad boys, we would get a good share of beating, and no psychiatry session.

We would also not think of pressing charges against our parents for beating us.

We played with marbles and exchanged soccer cards.

We would organize casual wars against the neighboring street boys, paint our faces and were grounded when we came home with torn clothes and bruises. But we liked it and did it again very soon.

We had no cellular phones and we didn't need them.

We were polite to the elders; there was always a chance we could get a share of good beating if we weren't.

We played video games in an arcade, but it couldn't beat the fun of riding your bike down the hill without any helmet or protection for knees and elbows, and in winter we speeded the same hill with slides.

We were teasing girls and pulled their ponytails, generally harassing them, which is why we love them today and allow them to harass us instead.

We weren't smoking when we were at the grammar school.

We knew of drugs only from movies and could not understand why the bad guys are so interested in that washing machine powder.

We thought that Rambo movies are realistically displaying the true nature of war.

We were generations of men that are today bound to join the Fight Club.



And, against all odds, we survived.

[Knight_Yellow]

hmmmmm.....

Doing all those things described there......



or playing my kick ass computer against noobs and mocking them all day long....


http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif

[PseRamesses]

Kiwitt and Voigtkampf,
You´re dead on. This brings on a lot of memories as I was born in 1964 and one wonder if progress of civilization is a good or bad thing. On the other hand my two daughters will in about 30 years look back on their childhood as simple, easy and happy compared to their own children etc etc.
Sometimes mans ability to adjust and adept to different environments just amazes me.

[Hetman_Koronny]

*bows*

*thinks back of his childhood*

*shares a tear*

Born in 1979, I grown up in communism reality for a decade. Being 10 years old I still could understand (well, not perfectly) what was happening at that time. Then the transformation and all that 'crazy' civilized stuff featuring tons of things you could actually buy at shopping malls (which also were something new) if you had the money http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif...

Then TV with all those broadcast from the US - I remember watching NBA playoffs all nights and calling my friends (they were watching too) during halftime and discussing what was happening. Then during the day we would go out on the court to, incompetently enough, imitate Jordan, Barkley, Rodman and others.
No video games, no Internet (), no mobile phone... I couldn't imagine living without it today, what is rather sad I think.

*bows*

[squippy]

So much for progress, eh? Pining for the past is a waste of time; obviously the medeieval period was so much better.

[makkyo]

lead paint eh? that explains so many things.... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Jacque Schtrapp]

Child of '74. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

What I want to know is if these great times were had by all (and most of us even survived), what was it that caused us to be the ones parking our kids in front of the tele for days on end, pacifying them with PS2's instead of teaching them respect and responsibility, and launching lawsuits because little Johnny said little Sarah had cooties? Could it be the lead paint? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-dizzy2.gif

[kawligia]

And its because of all that we didn't have school shootings etc.