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 have had the luck to grow up as kids
before lawyers and government regulated our lives for our own good !!!

..........author unknown