[StBernard] THe "old school"

[Westley Annis]

This has been around, but its fun to remember the "old days" compared to
today.  Some of you will remember well, others will just not believe we
could have survived.  George
 

	This really is so true and it brings back memories of comfortable
times gone by.  My childhood was very secure, relaxed and full of
spontaneities, creativity and daily adventure.  Just remembering what our
neighborhood was like then........it's so different now.  Then, we knew
nearly every person who walked through the streets or if we didn't know them
once we spoke we learned they were a neighbor out for a stroll and lived
only a block or so away.   Times have changed and yet I try so hard to make
my childrens lives safe and comforting, like mine was. 
	
	
	
	
	Those Born 1929-1979! 
	
	
	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 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 infants & 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 koolade 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 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 and wiping out, 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 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! 
	
	
	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. 
	
	
	And 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?! 
	
	
	The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
	
	
	"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides,
flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to
another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure
this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"