barefoot in the snow

pop shared this with me...he received it as an e-mail, forwarded to him from one of his friends...

no matter what our kids and the new generation think about us, we are awesome.  our life is living proof.

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-base paints.  we had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps (not helmets) on our heads.  as infants & children we rode in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires, and sometimes no brakes.  riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. we drank water from the garden hose, not from a bottle.  we shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from it.  we ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon.  we drank kool-aid made with real white sugar.  and we weren't overweight...why?? ...because we were always outside playing, that's why!  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 OKAY. we would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then ride them 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 did not have playstations, nintendo's and x-boxes.  there were no video games, 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, and no chat rooms.  we had friends and we went OUTSIDE and found them! we fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones & teeth, and there were no lawsuits from the accidents.   we would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse. we ate worms & 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 poke out very many eyes. we rode our bikes or walked to a friend's house & knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.  little league had tryouts & 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 & new ideas.  we had freedom, failure, success & responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all... to those of us born 1930 - 1979...CONGRATULATIONS!  you might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as KIDS, before lawyers & government regulated so much of our lives "for our own good."  while you are at it, share it with your kids so they will know how brave & lucky their parents were...  kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!  ummm...yeah, but let's not tell henro 'bout that :)