Ya, F*&^% Ba^&%$s
March 27th, 2003

A friend sent the following to me and I thought it quite appropriate based on the times we are presently in. Wouldn't it be nice to go back in time for a day or two and relive the simple pleasures that we once had.

Old Good Days

And we ate raw batter from chocolate chip cookies & cake.....
Can't Believe You Made It! If you lived as a child in the 50's, 60's or
70's. Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as
we have...

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special
treat. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when
we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention hitchhiking to town
as a young kid!)

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors. We
would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode 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 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. No cell phones. Unthinkable.

We played dodgeball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We got cut
and broke bones and broke teeth, and there were no law suits from these
accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame, but us. Remember
accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue
and learned to get over it. We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank
sugar soda but we were never overweight ... we were always outside
playing.

We shared one grape soda with four friends, from one bottle and no one
died from this. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X Boxes, video
games at all, 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound,
personal cell phones, personal Computers, Internet chat rooms ... we had
friends.

We went outside and found them. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home
and knocked on the door, or rung the bell or just walked in and talked to
them. Imagine such a thing. Without asking a parent! By ourselves! Out there
in the cold cruel world! Without a guardian. How did we do it?
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although
we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the
worms live inside us forever.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.... Some students weren't as
smart as others so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same
grade...Horrors. Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions
were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually
sided with the law, imagine that! This generation has produced some of the
best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years
has 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!

Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids,
before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our "own good."

Rock on!

- Sall