If you were born in the 70's or 80's...............

[EricL]

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 tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots 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 seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.

We drank water from the garden hosepipe 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 cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop 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 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, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text messaging, 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 lawsuits from these accidents

We played with worms(well most boys did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.


Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Local teams 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!

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!


And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

[flooplowder]

You maybe, but my mam was so over the top that I wasn't allowed out to play for a whole YEAR because she had seen a slow worm in the back garden.

[EricL]

A 'slow worm'?

What the hell is that?

My mum used to get annoyed if we came home.

She had no idea we were half way accross the city most of the day.

Times change i guess.

[totaleclipse]

We had no central heating but we did'nt freeze to death.

We had a bath twice a week, usually after 3 other people had bathed in it, but we got no diseases/infections.

mothers always had time to cook a meal from scratch, and it was never late on the table.

we'd walk to school alone at the age of 6, we never got lost or nearly knocked down on the road.

[flooplowder]

here is a image of a slow worm.

[Kevlarhead]

Speak for yourself mate...

I went out with my mates... but I also got a crick in my neck playing games on the ZX Spectrum we owned.

I rode my bike around with my friends, but if it rained we'd play Sonic 3 on his Megadrive.

My cot was plain wood, and I've avoided team games all my life.

This stuff is more US Baby-boomer back slapping...

[EricL]

I used to have a Commodore 64.

I remember having to put four casettes in for a 'good' game.

Technology eh? I thought it was the business at the time.

[totaleclipse]

lol, I remember that, it would take 25 minutes for a game to load, and often crashed at 23 minutes

[CripleH]

I remember when you had to suck on a rat for a drink of water, eat raw sewage for breakfast and then set off for work by walking on your elbows towards mill where we would work 28 hours a day and PAY MILL OWNER FOR THE HONOUR!

[EricL]

I used to get to lick the road for supper - IF I WAS LUCKY.

[Loriycs]

I used to ride around on my friends purple chopper bike (i wasnt allowed one as my mum said they were for boys!?)and the only technology we had was a TV tennis game.

[MiffyUnderFoot]

Carrying a penknife to use constructively, rather than embedding it into someones stomach!

[PuppyMonkey]

You were lucky.

I was born in the 60s. We had it much worse.

Only had Black and white telly

[mummylin2495]

flooplowder.you have put a picture of an adder on your link ! i am glad they dont look like that because we get them in our garden here is a slow worm

[MiffyUnderFoot]

Black and white TV!! you lucky bugger, we had to make do with shadow puppets by the light of a glowing coal

[summerbird]

i remember finding a pound note (yes note!) in the street and my dad clipped me round the ear and made me take it to the village policeman (yes village policeman!) i am only talking 25 years ago too!

i did every single thing on that list

[BarcodeZebra]

Born 1964 and I remember the following:

1. Milk delivered by a man with a horse and cart (on Saturdays I was allowed to give the horse a sugar lump)
   
   
2. getting our first colour telly but not being allowed to watch ITV. (Only three channels too)
   
   
3. White dog shit
   
   
4. My Dad getting my up in the middle of the night to watch the latest Apollo missions. (Apollo 13 didn't happen in colour kids and Tom Hanks wasn't there either)
   
   
5. The rag and bone man.
   
   
6. My mum cooking our rabbit when she was killed by a fox.
   
   I don't mean to be snide Eric but did someone send you that on a Hihihilarious email?

[DadInsteadofMum]

And we still had to put up with our parents telling us how much easier we had it.

(1968)

[layda]

I had a nintendo and a game boy.
As for the other stuff I suspect we will be paying a high price for a lifestyle of sun bathing and lead based paint for the rest of our lives.
Did eat worms though... good times