TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's:

[kiwitt]

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 cribs were covered with bright coloured 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 hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a ute 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 soft drink 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 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.

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 put 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!

The Junior Football teams had practice games 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!

This generation has 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!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

[lars573]

So, you want a medal or a chest to pin it on?

[sharrukin]

So, you want a medal or a chest to pin it on?

Sounds like someone's not a happy camper!

[Byzantine Prince]

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

Is this why you guys like to watch the Wheel of Fortune?

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 hitchhiking.

You risk takers, you...

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Yeah, I bet the traffic was huge in the 50's and 60's.

Riding in the back of a ute on a warm day was always a special treat.

What is a ute?
*BP checks dictionary*
Ok so you guys liked riding in the back of pick-up trucks. Lot's of kids still find that fun when they can get it.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

So did I and I grew up in the 90's.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

Why would someone die from that?
If sharing some saliva was that dangerous people would never kiss.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drink with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

So what? Kids these days don't have to go out, they have cool video games to attend to.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

Yes well that IS dangerous, what if some maniac was on the streets kidnapping children?

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

Yeah, but don't you wish you had a cool cellphone instead.

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.

Today we have S-K-A-T-E-B-O-A-R-D-S that do the same thing, without all the effort of bputting them together first. It's not our generations fault you guys had a poorer economy then us.

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 personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

Who needs real friends when you have Playstation Friends to play. You old guys only talk big, but if I had gone back in time and given you a playstation 2 you'd never go outside again.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

Aparently you have never heard about eXtreme sports and how popular they are among the youth.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

Eating worm... mmmm... yummy.

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 put out very many eyes.

Not very many but some were bound to be plucked off. I don't know about you but I'de rather have my vision then have some dumb kid destroy the rest of my life for some dumb game.

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!

So today I can walk into my house, open my computer and talk to the friend without the inconvience of having to walk all the way to his house.

The Junior Football teams had practice games and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

Since when does EVERYONE make a high school team. I knew people who were amazing basketball players and didn't make it. Regardless of what you may have heard, other then gym class, the school sport's teams are just as picky today as they ever were.

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

Yeah I'm sure this hapened everywhere. Today more people live in the city, and even cops can't be trusted.

This generation has 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!

Are you insinuating that our generation, the generation in which a 17 year old kid has crafted an entire new computer language called Linux, is somehow inferior to the preveous because we have more technology and lead more confortable lives?

Face it my friend. We are a lot smarter and more daring then any other generation. Yeah we have more obesity etc, etc..., but if we choose to we can do whatever. A choice the preveous generation didn't have, and if they did, they'd end worse then us, because they wouldn't be able to deal with it.

[Roark]

Hehe...

I think Byzantine Prince has a little generational inferiority complex...

[Gawain of Orkeny]

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Yeah, I bet the traffic was huge in the 50's and 60's.

It was as bad as it iis now. Fewer cars but also fewer roads. Rush hour still sucked just as bad.

So what? Kids these days don't have to go out, they have cool video games to attend to.

Yeah thats much better for you. Builds strong bodies I bet. You get monster thumbs.

Yes well that IS dangerous, what if some maniac was on the streets kidnapping children?

Thats the point it was almost unknown back then. Man it was great being a kid back then with no worries. Then you hit puberty and all the troubles start to hit you at once.

[Azi Tohak]

Yup Gawain. And too many hit you right square in the face...

oww...my pride...

Yes, I would have liked growing up in the 50s. But man...I do love my Playstation and GameCube.

But also, I think the girls are better looking now too.

Azi

[Gawain of Orkeny]

But also, I think the girls are better looking now too.

No way. There have always been beautiful women and heres hoping there always are. At least back then it was easy to tell a woman from a man.

[Azi Tohak]

Stupid fake haircolor notwithstanding...I remember looking at picturse of my Dad's old girlfriends. Mind, he was pretty good with the ladies (so how the heck did I miss out on that gene) but man...some of the women were just fugly!

No offense to any of you old ladies out there. ahem...Gawain...ahem

Edit: You can't tell a woman from a man now? Okay...so Michael Jackson (who fits in this category mind you) is an exception but...maybe Gawain needs to check again...

Azi

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Heres Veronica Lake from the 40s



Fugly indeed.

Heres one from the sixtees you might remember



Then there always Bardot



There were never women more beautiful and elegant than at this time. Men were men and women were women back then. As Archie Bunker says "Those were the days"


I hope your dad had better lucj with your mom

[Azi Tohak]

....No comment on that one...

Anyway, you did have pretty women sure, but I just like the new ones better. I would try to get some pictures up here myself, but you see...for us young'uns, it's time for bed.

Azi

[King of Atlantis]

Thats the point it was almost unknown back then. Man it was great being a kid back then with no worries. Then you hit puberty and all the troubles start to hit you at once.

I think kids of all generations were like this. I know when i was little I didnt care about much.

A lot of the stuff on that list still havent changed. All the wau till like 6th grade i spent almost all my free time outside. And school sports teams have gotten much more competitve.

and girls look much better now. There is much better hygene for hair, teeth etc. Girls are have to be much slimmer too. Also there's a beautiful thing called plastic surgery .

[Byzantine Prince]

Gawain women back then did not have the state of the art makeup women today enjoy. Also their hair didn't get the best product. Putting all that aside, I have to agere that they were basically the same, except they didn't look half as good as women look today. If you only visited my mall, you wouldn't believe your eyes. It's amazing what good taste in style today's young ladies have compared to the 80's or even the 60's.

[lars573]

Byz don't forget your in Canada and everyone knows we have much more attractive women folk than those unlucky yankees.

[King of Atlantis]

Byz don't forget your in Canada and everyone knows we have much more attractive women folk than those unlucky yankees.

Thats the funniest thing ive heard all day!

[Gawain of Orkeny]

I think kids of all generations were like this. I know when i was little I didnt care about much.

Maybe the kids were but the parents sure were not. You cant tell me kids in the 80s came home from school and just dissappeared until dinner and then went back out until dark. I mean we didnt even tell our mom where we were going half the time. She'd just say were eating at such and such a time make sure your home or my dad would come outside and whistle. Man you could here him from blocks away. Believe me it was very different from today. Almost another planet.

and girls look much better now. There is much better hygene for hair, teeth etc.

Oh Please. Yes our women were unclean.

Gawain women back then did not have the state of the art makeup women today enjoy.

Yeah you had some idea of what you were really getting. Personally I like the natural look. I prefer as little make up as possible on my women. You cant beat a natural beauty.

If you only visited my mall, you wouldn't believe your eyes.

Im sure it offers nothing our Malls in New York dont have.

It's amazing what good taste in style today's young ladies have compared to the 80's or even the 60's.

Thats a matter of taste. Those gothic women are really hot. The ones with the red green and purple hair are cool too.We didnt have any of those. Ill give you the hot ones dress much sluttier nowdays and look older than they are.

[Big_John]

Thats the funniest thing ive heard all day!

sadly, i must believe the reports of the canadian female hotness superiority to be true. two trips to montreal cannot lie.

[King of Atlantis]

Oh Please. Yes our women were unclean.

We do have much better hair products and tooth care has improved very much.

also there are more women, so there is a larger group to be attractive.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Byz don't forget your in Canada and everyone knows we have much more attractive women folk than those unlucky yankees.

Theres more beautiful women in New York City alone than in all of Canada.

[King of Atlantis]

sadly, i must believe the reports of the canadian female hotness superiority to be true. two trips to montreal cannot lie.

well i prefere women to look like:

s

and that is most common in latino populations that canada doesnt have.

[KafirChobee]

Very well put, Kiwitt. The 50's were a hoot, the 60's an experience, the 70's laid-down. The 80's just plain work.

I use to walk to kindergarden with friends - in Des Moines. Imagine letting your 5 yearold out of your sight today? Of course come to think of it.... maybe they were hoping to get rid of us .

Do remember the be home before dark rule (summer), and the no TV 'til homework is done (fall).

Still, we can't begrudge the youngsters for growing up in central AC (we had a fan), or their video games. Or, their 200+ channels of TV (we had 5 and one was educational).

Doubt any have built a go-cart (stealing the wheels from wagons, baby carriages, etc - for that free wheeling run down a hill (remember Bill Cosby's 120mph?). Still the new diversions are ......... something.


As for women? Atleast what you saw was real back then. No artificial additives there.

[Zalmoxis]

Society is messed up where I live. When I was younger, I would go outside just about everyday without worries, and in the summer would be home at one in the night, because there are no worries. But here, it really sucks, you can get killed if you walk during the day. Anyway, you're creating generalizations based on stereotypes, which isn't very good.

[Ronin]

we´re still young......you´ve allready turned into old farts

game..set..match

[Al Khalifah]

I grew up in the 80's and did all of those things.

The recent wuss-culture is a very 90's thing.

[Sigurd]

Are you insinuating that our generation, the generation in which a 17 year old kid has crafted an entire new computer language called Linux, is somehow inferior to the preveous because we have more technology and lead more confortable lives?

ehm... my personality dictates that I must clarify:
Linux is not a computer language; it is an operating system kernel. One of the things Linus Torvalds(born 1969!!) did was making a better version of Minix (a horrible operating system in the late 80’s) and transported a Unix based operating system to PC. It was written in the computer language C.
Besides, he was 22 years when he launched his Linux.

[lars573]

well i prefere women to look like:

s

and that is most common in latino populations that canada doesnt have.

You want your women to look like a giant S, sorry that's just disterbing. And I though I had a sick mind. And we do have a latino population, just that they are French not Spainish-Native like the US has.

[Proletariat]

Am I immature for finding post #4 funny?

I mean, I don't agree with all of it. And I didn't spit my coffee at my monitor or anything. But I did laugh.

[xemitg]

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 put out very many eyes.

10? my grandfather gave my dad his BB gun when he was 8 and i on the other hand, never got mine...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

40 years from now we can make another of these lists for kids who lived in the 90's...we survived being allowed to run on the playground


Kids these days have access to the internet. Forget lead based paint, anyone who has done a google image search for "scat" knows how dangerous the internet can be (don't try it).

[Redleg]

40 years from now we can make another of these lists for kids who lived in the 90's...we survived being allowed to run on the playground


Kids these days have access to the internet. Forget lead based paint, anyone who has done a google image search for "scat" knows how dangerous the internet can be (don't try it).

And there I was assuming that "scat" meant something completely different. Like get away from there. A term my grandmother used to use when wanting us to leave her alone.

Good thing I am at work - so I am not willing to try a search on the internet for that term. (I am sure it brings sites up that will get me in trouble at work - given the nature of your warning.)