The Way I See It - The way it was
The Way I See It
By: Doug Dickerson/Staff Writer
08/08/2006
The long hot days of summer will soon give way to every parent's celebration of the return to school. Wide-eyed children will cross the threshold of our esteemed schools, as the lazy days of summer quickly become a distant memory. As I have been anticipating this upcoming momentous day, I was reminded through an email from my dear mother what it was like in years gone by. The children we have raised today are a far cry from the children raised in days gone by. Mom forwarded this very timely and revealing look back at the way it was.
To all the kids who were born in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s - congratulations! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored 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 seatbelts or airbags. Riding in the back of a pick up truck was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were not 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 street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day, and we were OK. 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.We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games, no 99 channels on cable, no cell 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 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. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, and 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 our bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with the 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. If you are one of us, congratulations!
©Summerville Journal-Scene 2006
By: Doug Dickerson/Staff Writer
08/08/2006
The long hot days of summer will soon give way to every parent's celebration of the return to school. Wide-eyed children will cross the threshold of our esteemed schools, as the lazy days of summer quickly become a distant memory. As I have been anticipating this upcoming momentous day, I was reminded through an email from my dear mother what it was like in years gone by. The children we have raised today are a far cry from the children raised in days gone by. Mom forwarded this very timely and revealing look back at the way it was.
To all the kids who were born in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s - congratulations! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored 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 seatbelts or airbags. Riding in the back of a pick up truck was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were not 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 street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day, and we were OK. 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.We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games, no 99 channels on cable, no cell 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 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. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, and 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 our bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with the 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. If you are one of us, congratulations!
©Summerville Journal-Scene 2006
posted by Doug Dickerson | 7:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home