Survivors

To All The Kids Who Survived The –

60’s 70’s and the 1980’s

·                   First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us

·                   They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetics

·                   Then, after that trauma, our cots were covered with brightly coloured, lead based paints

We survived!

·                   We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, no childproof doors or cabinets, and when we rode our pushbikes, 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 ute on a warm day was always a special treat

Again, we survived …

·                   We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

·                   We shared one soft drink with four friends, and no-one actually died from sharing the bottle

·                   We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drink with sugar in it, 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 OK

We survived.

·                   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, we learned to solve the problem

·                   We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-Boxes, no video games, no 99 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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

Yep, we survived.

·                   We were given slingshots for our 10^th 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 our bikes or walked to a friend’s house and just walked in the open door to play with them

·                   The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.  They actually sided with the law

·                   Under 12 footy, cricket and basketball had tryouts and not everyone made the team.  Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Wow, imagine that! We actually survived.

·                   Our generation has 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.

CONGRATULATIONS SURVIVOR!!!