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.
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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.
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As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and 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.
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We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice 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.
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We would spend hours building go-carts out of spoos 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.
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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.
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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, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms.
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We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits.
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We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' 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.
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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 was unheard of...they actually sided with the law.
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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.
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Congratulations!
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Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for "our own good".
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For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us.
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This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a
smile on your face:
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The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986....The Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.
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They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.
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For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.
AIDS has existed since they were born, they aren't going to die of ignorance.
CD's have existed since they were born.
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Michael Jackson has always been white.
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To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.
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They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year. They can never imagine life before computers.
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They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazard or the Famous Five.
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They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a
mobile phone.
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Now let's check if we're getting old...
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1. You understand what was written above and you smile.
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2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.
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3. Your friends are getting married/already married or divorced ?!?
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4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers.
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5. When you see children with mobile phones, you shake your head.
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6. Having read this, you are thinking of forwarding it to some other friends because you think they will like it too...
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Yes, you're Getting old!!
Lol! Luvin that Spyder
'Wore our coats by only the hoods! hee hee!!
Bigger the cowhorns/bullhorns on our chopped 5 speed racers the cooler you were!
Ah, memories hey geez?! Cheers for bringing loads of them flooding back, and re kindling a few others!
It's good stuff, every time I read this I get different memories flooding back....
The Raliegh Chopper, Yehaa, I even had the tassles on the handlebars on one of them, damn that makes me cringe
I seem to remember carrying a knife without no malice aforethought whatsoever!
i.e. not for sticking in people, but helping to build camps in the woods, running repairs on torn clothing etc...maybe even cutting the tassles off kids bikes in another gang from the street up the road hee hee!
Belinda Carlisle.Mmmmmm..... Belinda Carlisle!!!!!!!!!Droooooooollllllllllll..........
You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.Less, actually. Then again, I have lots more exciting toys to play with now.....
Sad not to see CB Radio mentioned, though.
That's still how some of my friends and I keep in touch!!
Blackeys on your shoes,3 button waist band on your school trousers and smoking behind the bike shed. Getting caught playing truant and then getting twatted by the teacher.
Arf didn't you have Blackeys? You know the half moon shaped metal things that went on your heels to stop them wearing down and made a noise when you walked. Also good for getting sparks off as well.
Yeah a very good trip down memory lane,
I seem to remember going camping with my mates, and it wasn't down the bottom of the garden with mums and dads checking on you every 10 minutes, we used to go up to 25 miles on our bikes and camp beside the river Dee and spend the weekend eating beans on toast cooked on a real fire (shock horror) then we'd jump off the bridge into the river, climb out shivering and go and do it again!
Did mum and dad worry, no because they knew you were with pals and yes there were lasses with us too, anyway we were too busy havin a laugh and too young at 10 y.o. to worry about anything else.
spot on mate
Oh yeah, i remember them now Ricdude, didn't know thats what they were called though!
Birmingham bags, huge thigh pockets!! I had some green and black ones, looked well cool with a pair of Chelsea boots!! (NOT)!!
Think if you mentioned the idea of a 50 mile round trip camping on pushbikes to a gang of 10 year olds now YD, you wouldn't see them for dust! (heading straight for their play stations etc to take a reality trip instead)
My trousers were black,school colours (started early Arf) My Mum used to make them. Another pair of shoes were the crepe shoes,also known as Brothel Creepers for some reason. If only i had them now. Haha.
Ah...Blakeys - essential weapons in our school! Used to heat them up by scraping your heel on the ground (usually whilst riding your Grifter) then take your shoe off and hold it against your unsuspecting victims arm or neck!
How times have changed... (I use Heeleys to get from one brothel to another now...)
I can see i'm gonna have to take you in hand ArfurB!
I used to have Blakeys on my parade shoes, as did all of my squadron. Sounded fookin amazing marching across the square first thing in the morning when it was all quiet.
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