To Those of You Born Between 1927-1979

At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.

If you don't read anything else, please read what he said.

Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1940's, 50's, 60's ,70's and 80's!!

First,we survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from
a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our
tummies in babycribs covered with bright colored
lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on
doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had
baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no
car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up truck on a warm day
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, real butter and bacon.

We drank Kool-aid made with real white sugar. And,
we weren't overweight.

WHY? Because we were always outside, playing...
that's why!

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
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 Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.

There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and
no 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 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, 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 walked in and talked
to them.

Little 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!

These generations have 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 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 so much of our lives for our own
good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will
know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with
scissors, doesn't it?

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud
slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the
country from one end to another, and with the threat
of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a
good time to take God out of thePledge of Allegiance?"



*Another wonderful contribution by the lovely Story Teller.