Waxing Philosophical to take license

[John Saxton]

Not a joke but thought best placed here so all can ponder and muse whether of a senior vintage or of an age that may relate!

If you lived as a child in the 40's,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 ute on a warm day was a special treat.

>Our cots were covered with bright colored lead_based paint.We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,doors or cupboards,and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets.

>We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.Horrors.

>We would spend hours building Go-carts 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 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 Mobile phones.Unthinkable.

>We got cut and broke bones and broke teeth,and there was 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 patty cakes,bread and butter,and drank cordial,but we were never overweight....we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends,from one bottle and no-one died from this.

>We did not have Playstations,Nintendo 64, X-Boxes,video games,65 channels on pay TV,video tape movies,surround sound,personal mobile phones,Personal Computers,Internet chat rooms....we had friends.We went outside and found them.We rode bikes or walked to a friends 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.

>Footy and netball 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.Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

>Our actions were our own.Consequences were expected.No-one had 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.

>And you're one of them congratulations!

Cheers

------------------
Johnno

[Iain]

Never really mastered that brake on the billy cart thing!
We had state of the art communications, two tins and a piece of string.
Gay was happy.
Wnen we did have TV it started at 10.00am and finished at 9.00pm.
If you got caught playing up, you got a lift under the ear from the local copper.
Bus drivers were actually polite.
A day at the beach was a big event.
Only a few families had a car.
Why did we look at the radio at night?
You took your own lunch to school.
Bikes had no gears.
No one actually drank coke (still don't, bloody awful stuff).
Pot was what was under Grandma's bed.
LSD was currency then.
The postie rode a bike and blew a whistle.
South Australian beer was as bad then as it is today.
Wine was for poofta's.

[Kev Y.]

There actually WAS Public transport everywhere.

Milk was delivered by horse and cart, and there was always a fight for the cream of off the top.

[Stuart]

And food was kept cold by way of the ice delivery

[Eastie]

Yeah, and next you'll all be riding dinosaurs to school ...

[AlexS]

Nah,...used to catch the tram.

[Woodchuck2]

Iain,
How do you know that S.A. beer was bad
when you were a kid? One thing my old man
would never allow was "drunk in charge of a billy cart, brakes or no brakes!
Incidentally, I too experienced the Southwark
slops during the beer strikes of the late 70's but it was no different from any other
beer of the time that had travelled for
thousands of k's on the back of a hot semi-trailer before consumption!
Merry Christmas,
Woodchuck

[soundman]

An ya tell that to the kids these days & they wont believe ya will they. No No No.