First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots 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 or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6pm and didn’t open on the weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO-one actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in a the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with.
We ate patty cakes, 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 building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We build tree houses and dens and played in rivers beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo Wii, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY, no video/DVD films, no mobile 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 law suits from these accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time.
We were given air guns and shanghais for our 10th birthdays.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bells, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn’t go to work to help dad make ends meet!
Rugby and cricket had try outs and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on merit.
Our teachers used to hit us with canes, and gym shoes, and bullies always ruled the play ground a school.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all!
And YOU are one of them. Here's to you!
