NOTE: This message (with lots of modifications) has been around as far back as my blogging mind can remember....
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First,
we survived with mothers who had no maids. They
cooked/ cleaned while taking care of us at the same
time.
They took aspirin,
candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and
diabetes was rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was
remedy for
fever.
We had
no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or
cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no
helmets.
As
children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/
motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars
with no seat belts or air
bags.
Riding
in the back of a private taxi was a special
treat.
We
drank water from the tap and NOT from a
bottle.
We would spend
hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our
kites, without worrying about the UV rays which never
seemed to affect
us.
We went to
the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes
mosquitoes.
With
mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be a endless game. With
a ball (tennis ball best) we boys would run like crazy
for hours.
We
caught guppies in drains / canals and when it rained,
we swam
there.
We
shared one soft drink with four friends, from one
bottle and NO ONE actually worried about being
unhygienic.
We ate
salty, very sweet & oily food, candies, bread and
real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee/
tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight
because.......
WE
WERE OFTEN OUT
PLAYING!!
We
would leave home in the morning and play all day, till
street lights came
on.
No one
was able to reach us all day.WE DID NOT HAVE
HANDPHONE S TO BUG US. And we were
O.K. AND
WE WERE SAFE.
We
would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and
wooden scooters 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
no t have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple
channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound,
no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD
FRIENDS and we went outside and found
them!
We
fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and
we still continued the
stunts.
We never had
birthdays parties till we were
21
We
rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just
yelled for
them!
The
idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
was unheard of. They actually sided with the
law!
Yet this generation
has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers and inventors
ever!
The
past 40 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 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 government
'regulated' our lives for our own
good.
And
while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they
will know how brave their parents
were.
P/S:
-The big font used is
because of Long-sightedness or hyperopia at
our age.
Enjoyed your post, but you are a victim of "survivorship bias". The fact that you survived some of these risks means that you survived them. It does not mean that they were not risks that you should expose every child to. Children have died not wearing seatbelts, for example.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI think you have missed the point of the post ! It is a recollection of the way we were, and not what we wish the younger people to go through. Lighten up, friend. In fact, there is legislation already on some of the things mentioned. No worries. No one has to go through these conditions again unnecesarily.
Thanks Kuman, you said it for me.
ReplyDelete