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First, we survived being born to mothers who had no full time maids/cooked food/cleaned the house while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate cheese , sweet dishes and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids 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.
We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.
We would spend hours on the terrace under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV effect which never ever affect us.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate pastries, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks 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 O.K.
We would spend hours repairing our out dated bicycle and scooter 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 Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape 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 were never given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, we 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 bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Cricket League had tryouts and 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!
This 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!
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 lawyers and 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.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!
PS -The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age
yes. i remember opposite my Penang hometown house was the morning market area. In the afternoon, after the morning market end, we always play skateboard, skating, "Kari tui", Panjat Tiang , throw the coconut cover, play with the left over vege from the ground, act like BOY!!! People called me Tom Boy, Small Cili, Wild CAT and etc... I never care and even throw them coconut cover (:P, sorry). I always join Teh Boon Kit, Teh Boon Yee, My Brother (ah hooi), sister (Ah Leng)and friends play the kite, skating, "eagle catch chick", Gasing, hide and seek, "seven stone", "pick up stick" and etc. How different from now.. I am 70s. After me, my brother atat time already the Nitendo and Astro time. No need to say how i see my own daughter now.. haiz...
ReplyDeleteAh... the good old days. I noticed something, though we were racially strong to our clan, we seem to have got along better and closer with other races compared to kids nowadays where racial polarization has become the norm of the day. What's happening or where did we go wrong?
ReplyDeleteThis make me to recall all the games we played during childhood.
ReplyDeleteMy friend, you brought back all those fond memories. Like taking words from my mouth. Now I have to look for a "dog leash" to strap my grandson so that he don't get astray in IKEA. Those days - "See gin nga, ko bo twoi lai cheah pui!"
ReplyDeleteI rode my bicycle out of my house down the slope into a passing by Lim Seng Seng Bus. You know how fast those bus can run lah?
:)
ReplyDeleteEarly 80's I am and ... well ... a little bit different from my version.
:D
In reality, it's such an amusing reminiscence. I can't say kids are any different from those days. We made do with whatever we had, they now live in a totally different environment from ours. They have theirs.
ReplyDeleteAs for racial polarization, my opinion is always that it's a politically motivated condition. The powerful hand keeps the dividing line clearly drawn with dead-set policies, while the mouth keeps calling for integration.
^--^
ReplyDeletei am very end of 70s... i think not much difference mine with yours kua!
ReplyDelete-______- "The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age " I hate this word !!!
ReplyDeletethat sounds like it's true then???
ReplyDeleteor you can stop your eyesight from getting longer...
Ctrl + A -----> Click Page ----> Text Size ----> Smallest . U will become more younger ^.^V
ReplyDeletea few mouse clicks wiil do it, but defeats the idea of this message....
ReplyDeletethat post is VERY true especially::
ReplyDeleteWe fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
(No offence or aggression, just curiousity i know you're not one of them but some/to most of them are as they parent people of my generation) Parents (Not so much of mine) now are very kia si watches their kids like a hawk. Side with their kids even yes, as you mentioned going for lawsuits and going blatantly against teachers. Making a big fuss out of trival things.... Omg, im ranting so much!! i starting to sound as old as you! XD
One doesn't need to be old to be wise (?)....and age doesn't guarantee wisdom. you cultivate it, have it or you don't, no matter how old.
ReplyDeleteBirds feed their nestling, let them grow wings and push them out of the nest.
We want our kids to grow up strong, we give them the right lessons and let them go.