How did we ever survive?

[danger boy]

Warning, very long post. sorry. :rolleyes:


Friend of mine sent this to me. Thought it was funny.

I Can't Believe We Made It!

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were
kids in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early
80's, probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.

We had no childproof lids or locks 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 pickup truck on a warm day was always a special
treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in
it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

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

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode
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 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. No cell phones. Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at
all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound,
personal cell phones, personal computers,
or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were
no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to
blame but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned
to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were
told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home 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.

Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and
were held back to repeat the same grade.

Horrors!

Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in school or
broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or the

law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers, and inventors, ever.

We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility --- and we learned
how to deal with it.

And you're one of them!
Congratulations.

Please pass this on to others who were blessed to
grow up as "kids" before lawyers and
government regulated our lives "for our own good" !!!

[RuSsMaN]

Awesome!

[Zero]

And also the generation who mainly contributes to the issues our youth faces today! haha The sword never seems to be sharp on one side anymore!

[F1nut]

AMEN!!!



Sean....sorry dude, you're way off base on that one.

I see very little being done by todays youth to take charge, to take responsibility, to make positive changes...effn slackers. Life isn't fair, hard work never killed anybody and respect isn't a right, you have to earn it!!!

If I have hurt anyones tender little feelings, then good! It'll be alright, you won't be scared for life, I promise.

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Little do they mention.....

Thanks to that generation to make our world better they have suited laws to make this generation worse

that generation took out prayer
took god out of schools
that generation said children should NOT work at a certain age for a certain amount of times
THAT generation said we shall not beat our children that we should scream to punish them
little did they know that this list ends, that their tatics = s***. That the youth of today, which I am apart of will hopefully not be the youth of tommorow. For I hope we, the youth of today can get rid of the dumb@$$ moves the generation of yesterday did.

The world may have been safer then, but it was that generation of safe that made the world of the bad as we see it today.

You take away what keeps something under control, it goes out of control

I may be starting one heck of an argument

but dangit im tired of hearing about the glorious days of the earlier generations - don't preach the good and leave out the stupidity. Please.

Jesse,
The youth of today is out of control, because the generation before us set these laws, these laws set us on a uncontrolled course. Parents no longer have their childs respect because they can be reported for pulling out a belt. For it is wrong to discipline your child to gain their respect.

Now it is against the law to work a certain number of hours, it is actually a waste of time to work at my age unless you work under the table for your family. Trust me, I know.

Is the world really this blind?

Danger,
The government? Oh yeah, it was the government - with a voice from the people. They respond to the people, one voice took up and a crowd took a stand and that stand changed the laws. Those laws which they thought were good were not. The government.....right....

[F1nut]

Trey,

I promise that no one that I personally know from my generation had a damn thing to with the mess today.

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Also,

When you turn on the TV - you don't hear about Kid's doing stuff. You usally hear about a child brought up by lame parents with no control of their children. Or a child that was pressured to do something because of uncontrolled children.
Then you have the parents, that find everything to wine about. To get rid of prayer before football games. To get god out of the pledge. To not grade tests between classmates because a student make a D or higher. That generation may have been safe, but all I see and hear is wineing(sp). You guys have no idea what the youth of today goes through. You have no clue. I started working when I was 12 years old. I respected my parents my whole life. Acusations(sp) get you no where. The 'youth of today' is not a bundle. It is a selected few. You have no idea what the 'youth of today' is like.
You watch the news. All you hear on the news is bad stuff, you hear no good. Ocassionally you get the shock that some child posesses the talents to do something amazing. That some child could pick up a hammer and actually drive a nail in a floor. That some child could pull the trigger on a gun because their parents were to stupid to teach them no wrong. To not put the gun in a secure place where that gun could not be obtained.

Kids of today may be what you think is the problem. But I have a feeling it all boils down to the parents of yesterday. Put prayer back in school, put god back in the cities. If you don't believe in god. Get over it. This is ONE NATION *UNDER* ****GOD****. When you step foot on american soil that is what that means.

Discipline children, use a belt, for god sakes - smack them down if they talk back. Why won't you do this? Because you might just loose your child and spend time in jail. So what do you do? YOU YELL! Do we respond to yelling.....your right, we do - it soars in the ear facing you, and keeps going out the other ear. Amazing eh....

This world is full of laws and restrictions. For the better, for the worse is more like it. Kids drink, why? because you say we cant. Kids disrespect their elders because we know they cant do anything about it.

The glorious days of the generation of the 20,30,40,50,60,70,80's -- yep. Glorious, Im sure they were. Then why did ya'll destroy the 90's and 2000's?

[danger boy]

you can't blame any generation for what they did right or wrong. We have come a long way since those days. Yes we no longer polute our rivers and the air as bad as we did in the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. But i also don't think that generation blamed the generation before for their problems.

We ALL have to make right what was once wrong. It's so easy to blame everyone else.. and not be responsible for our own actions. That's the easy way out. What's not so easy is to own up to our mistakes. Each generation has and always will have good and bad about it. We are a culture that learns from our mistakes.. sometimes they are costly mistakes.

I was simply passing along what a friend had forwarded to me. I DID NOT WRITE IT! I MAY NOT AGREE WITH IT 100%. I'm just the messenger. It is meant in fun and not to be taken as a put down on any generation.

One of my pet peeves is manners. I am totally convinced that with each generation, we lose more and more of our common sense manners. Whatever happen to just being a well mannered individual? It costs nothing to learn manners... and you gain so much from being well mannered. But yet it's the thing our society and all generations currently alive today, have the toughest time doing.

It's sad that manners are free, but yet so few of us can afford to have them.

Al

aka Danger Boy

[Tour2ma]

Every generation has the seen the youth following it as irresponsible, less than worthy, etc., etc. Biggest examples were in the 20's, 60's and maybe today, maybe. Hard for me to see the 60's taking a backseat to any in this regard... my generation, as it is for more than a few members here.

Problems today, sure. Great in the 50's/60's? I guess, if you were fond of rampant racism, Viet Nam, polio, polution and a host of other "good ol' days" goodies. Simpler life then, yes, as it was more sheltered. and on and on...

Anyway, I see the main point of the posted e-mail (which has been a round a while) is that personal accountability has been in decline. I agree with that and also believe we are all accountable for that result.

[Zero]

[quote] Anyway, I see the main point of the posted e-mail (which has been a round a while) is that personal accountability has been in decline. I agree with that and also believe we are all accountable for that result. [\quote]

I rarely use quotations anymore, but this essentially summed up anything long and detailed I would typically respond with.

F1, way off base? No. Not hardly. Let it just be said that no hand's are clean - and it takes two. When I was growing up, none of us kids had some nationwide unde-cover operation going to where we would scheme up means of which to "protect" ourselves from the dangers of the world. That decision seemed to have been thrown upon us.

[HBombToo]

I'm convinced its aliens taking over the world. hold on.... shit! I can't find my meds:p

Trey, don't stress out over there... You have my respect and me and the little green men are responsible for your problems.

Henry

[faster100]

I know, don't blame us for you being naughty and all your friends :p

your on your computer right now, thats contributing to the depletion of the ozone or something, with its radiation.. LOL

what do i know though, i'm a lone internet salesman.. and mister MOM, that explains it all :confused:

[burdette]

I think a lot of the problems come down to a failure to take personal responsibility and a sense of entitlement that many people seem to have.

Also, I've changed my opinions on some of these issues since I've had kids, and especially as my kids have become older (6 and 3) and are now 'people' that interact rather than just little infants.

Just a couple of years ago, I would have said JUST the opposite of what I'm about to say, but I honestly believe that the failure of mothers to stay home with young children is at the heart of a lot of the current problems. You simply cannot instill a solid foundation of values and morals and discipline - everything from respect to manners to personal responsibility - when the parents are interacting with the kids only a few hours a day. Certainly there are always exceptions to just about anything, but by far I think the moral/value decline in this country can be traced generally to the increase in materialism and mothers entering the workforce. Notice, I didn't say WOMEN.... but I believe that if a couple choose to have children, they should take that responsibility and make it their first priority, and at least one of the parents needs to be home, and, frankly, I think it is better if it is the mom.

When I was younger... college.. before becoming a father.. I very much had the philosophy of "I'm OK you're OK" relativistic if it works for you and doesn't harm me its all right. As Dennis Miller said.. I don't care if you want to fuck a badger, just don't make me watch and don't fuck *my* badger. And in many respects I still feel that way... but not when it comes to raising your kids.

[faster100]

Originally posted by burdette
at least one of the parents needs to be home, and, frankly, "I think it is better if it is the mom".



Now why would this be? I personally am a stay at home Dad if you guys didn't know already?

I worked for a auto shop for 6 years, the first 6 of me and my now wifes relationship, I hurt my back severly, right about the time my oldest daughter was born, "WE" decided for me to stay home being i was hurt and she made Good money.. shortly after i started selling online and off, antiques, glass, vintage camp gear and what not, it proved until recently lucrative (sp) so we have done this for going on 5 years now.. My wife now makes great money, I do ok... and my daughter is very smart and well mannered and beleive it or not all under my guidance.. My youngest daughter is now 14 months and also doing great.. all being with dad 24/7 and mom only after 5pm and all weekend.. To say i am not qualified to tend to the kids and house on a full time basis is far from the truth, Now could some of my friends do what i "do" ?? some maybe, some Hell NO!!!

and it doesnt end at feeding them and careing for them during the day, its full time.. Laundry,house cleaning, yard work, learning activities now my soon to be 5 year old will be in school next year.. diaper changeing, Its the way of this generation... Its not all guys work and moms stay home.. although maybe Most guys prefer and excel better in the workplace then at home.. To say that i have no career or life or goals is also far from the truth.. Not that you said that.. but in general..

had to clear up the whole Mom versus Dad staying @ home misconception people seem to have these Days.

[danger boy]

faster100

i don't think many people will disagree that it's very important for a child to be raised by a stay at home parent. Whether is be the mom or dad.. both play a big role in the development in raising that child. There is some misconception that if the dad stays at home, he has no goals. Ha!

I can also understand both parents wanting careers. Your career is what makes you successful in the eyes of society. We don't give enough praise or credit to how important the role of parenthood really is.

My mom stayed at home for the first five years of my life raising me.. as well as my older brother and younger sister. Once we were school age.. she decided to return to the work force and continue her career as a nurse. It was tough for a few years with only one parent having an income to support a household of 5 people. But you know what? we survived just fine.

thanks for posting faster100, you bring up some good points.

[hlalanne]

God; I can still remember those old times.
sence I was always a fat kid can I sue someone ? just kidding.:p :

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Originally posted by HBombToo

Trey, don't stress out over there... You have my respect and me and the little green men are responsible for your problems.

Henry

im not stressing. Im just tired of hearing about the 'good ol days' when we could do this and this and not have to worry about this and this. Clearly, if you like the good ol days so much, why not change the current days?

Instead of making laws (which are stupid), get rid of them!!!! I mean really, who in their right mind said a child should not work? Who said a parent should NOT discipline their children?

I have news for them people, my child will work, he/she will KNOW how to work, and will know what respect is. My child WILL be DISCIPLINED to how I see nessicary. In best interest of the child.

Don't talk about the past, learn from the past, and change the future.

[danger boy]

Trey,

as difficult as this will be to comprehend.. these are your "good ol days" you're living in right now. When you're our age... you'll be telling your kids.. when I was 14 yrs old.. i had all this cool stereo equipment... etc, etc...

young or old.. we all have those memories. Things from our past and yes present that we'll cherish forever. :D

[Zero]

Yep..

My days werent too bad.

Nintendo was the new thing. Along with Sega and GameBuy. You could say, it was the start of the electronic kid geek age. I feel spoiled because we were really digging these new systems while still maintaining "play time" outside.

And toys - buwahaha we actually played with em. Ninja Turtles..

And oh man, GI Joes. Some of you may have fond memories of setting up the figures in elaborate lay outs *trying to memic what you saw on the boxes* with your friends, having big wars. heh, funny how through middle school most of us still played with them, though none would ever admit to it - until caught.

And it had some down sides, depending on how you looked at it -

There was no "bling bling", not until high school at least. Shirts were pretty regular. The only cool name-brand item was Starter, or maybe sports jerseys. Same difference, really.. Pants didnt sag to all hell, quite honestly - they were tight as hell - no one gave it much of a thought.

And the girls - Went from very conventional and well kept to downright slutty in a matter of a year. And what a blessed change that was!

Ah - good times, good times..

[Tour2ma]

Originally posted by danger boy
Trey, as difficult as this will be to comprehend.. these are your "good ol days" That's very true. We all, or most of us anyway, maintain very selective memories of our pasts. The good tends to overwhelm the bad.

Old times are simpler times. It never again is as easy as when you're a child. The number of choices you have to make are ever increasing.

Times change, society changes, values (yes, the "V" word) change. Better? Worse? Very subjective area there. Different is the only sure description.

One little movie I am very fond of is "Avalon". It chronicles change in the lives of 3 generations of Americans. Somehow struck me as appropriate to mention it here.

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

I am aware these are my 'good ol days'. I have no problems hearing about the 'good ol days' of others. I have problems when they say in closing 'and that is what is wrong today's youth.' That is when all hell breaks lose. I am not up for that kind of insult, for most grown ups have no idea what the youth of today is like outside of the screen of their television.

I do not say, that is what is wrong with the youth of the 80's, they smoked pot, hugged trees, and played guitars and talked rather funny like they had eyes in the back of their head. Now is that a general missconception or what?

As you were....

[Zero]

Dammit boy - get your homework done - this instant

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

none to do...finally

[F1nut]

Originally posted by Vr3MxStyler2k3

I do not say, that is what is wrong with the youth of the 80's, they smoked pot, hugged trees, and played guitars and talked rather funny like they had eyes in the back of their head. Now is that a general missconception or what?



That was the 60's Trey, get it right will ya. ;)