[Milsurplus] OT: Congratulations to us

[J Forster]

  Congratulations to us

  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.

  We didn't talk back to our parents for fear of the belt, or possibly
  swallowing some soap, or a few teeth.

  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 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.

*************

>From Jim F, with thanks.

I used to clean gears with leaded gas or Carbon Tet, played with
transmitters and neon sign transformers and loads of other things. All
things which would make today's professional 'nannies' go nuts..... if
going nuts was allowed., If I got shocked, cut, burned, or bruised, it
was considered a lesson learned.  Sad.