The America I miss.

[diamond]

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the


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

-They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for
diabetes.

-Then after that trauma, our baby cribs 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 pick up 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, bread and butter and drank soda 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 cell
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
lawsuits from these accidents.

-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 in us forever.

-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!


-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!


-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 our lives for our own
good.

 

[all_i_want]

thats one of the best things ive read in some time.

as a nearly 20 year old, and a non-american i cant really say i relate to some of it. but the rest, i understand. we are the victims of our own success. we invented all these great devices, built the best houses, only to shut the world outside. we no longer go to picnics or sing around camp fires. we dont have old friends who come knocking every once in a while. some of the most essential things that made us human have been swept away from us. as someone who sort of represents the generation that grew up PCs, internet in a multimedia world, i sometimes wonder how the world ever existed without them.

we are all shut away in our own worlds, our suburban houses, maybe with a nice pool or a tennis court in the backyard. we are victims of our own 'success'. we are created our own needs and now we feel unsatisfied when they are unfulfilled.

love, sex, hope, pain, joy.. none of them has ever been this cheap before.

these days, we are one with the world. but we have never been this alone.

 

[MaxFisher]

Good read Diamond.

thanks for that!

 

[Irvine511]

eh.

nostalgia is overrated.

but, yeah, kids do need to get outside more.

 

[diamond]

Most Americans would differ with you Irvine.

db9

 

[BAW]

Doozer and I had a conversation about this not too long ago...we watch our nieces and nephews raising their own kids in a protective bubble and its kind of sad. They can't get dirty, they can't be around other kids if there's a hint of a sniffle, they stay inside all day when they aren't at school, etc. They don't know how to deal with conflict or hurt feelings because they are so insulated from real life...they don't even keep score in team sports until a certain age because someone's feelings will get hurt

We talked about our childhoods in the 70's and how much freedom we had. I know a lot of things have changed for the better (seatbelts, no lead paint) but I do think that technology has taken away a big part of childhood for some kids. Why go outside and play when there are computers, video games, DVD players and cell phones?

We rode bikes, they play video games...we played tag until the street lights came on, they can't leave the front yard without an adult. Childhood is very different these days.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I never ate worms.

 

[melon]

Most Americans would differ with you Irvine.

Except that every generation goes through this. My grandmother even lamented how things had changed from when she was a kid (1920s-30s) to her then-"present" (1950s-60s).

Melon

 

[Pearl]

When I have kids, they are going outside. I'll make sure they'll hardly know what a TV or computer is.

 

[MissMoo]

Except there was no epidemic of obesity between our grandparents time and ours. Nowadays kids are having serious problems because they are driven everywhere and they sit on their asses all day. Which probably also accounts for all the adult on set diabetes as well.

 

[diamond]

I never ate worms.

ms joyful-
would u like to try a few?
i will bring some to SD if u wish

just lemme know what your favorite spice is to we can sauce it up for you Love.

db9

 

[najeena]

I miss the America of peace and prosperity.

 

[joyfulgirl]

My sister's kids watch a lot of TV and play a lot of video games. They also take karate, swimming, ballet and play soccer, badminton, and they skate, bike and read. All I had when I was a kid was the outdoors and 3 TV channels and I was bored to death. My sister's kids have it a lot better than I did and I am not nostalgic about the so-called good-old-days of my childhood in the 60's. Not one bit.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Doozer and I had a conversation about this not too long ago...we watch our nieces and nephews raising their own kids in a protective bubble and its kind of sad. They can't get dirty, they can't be around other kids if there's a hint of a sniffle, they stay inside all day when they aren't at school, etc. They don't know how to deal with conflict or hurt feelings because they are so insulated from real life...they don't even keep score in team sports until a certain age because someone's feelings will get hurt

We talked about our childhoods in the 70's and how much freedom we had. I know a lot of things have changed for the better (seatbelts, no lead paint) but I do think that technology has taken away a big part of childhood for some kids. Why go outside and play when there are computers, video games, DVD players and cell phones?

We rode bikes, they play video games...we played tag until the street lights came on, they can't leave the front yard without an adult. Childhood is very different these days.

I watched a special on tv a month or so back and it was about the "Now Generation". Interesting studies were done. Psychologist interviewed on the program stated that the children in this "now generation" are the most over protected children in history. They also interviewed a CEO of a Fortune 500 company and he said that kids who are now entering the work force are having a hard time adjusting to corporate life because they are not getting the constant praise that they were used to. He said some of the younger staff assume they should be praised for just showing up to work.

It was an interesting program. They interviewed high school students and asked them questions about how many trophies they have and who all had them. All the kids raised their hands *there were about 30 kids on the panel*. The interviewer asked them how they earned them and most of them said they received the trophies for just joining a club, sports team, etc. and that is how it has been since they younger.

 

[diamond]

i think they should ban T-Ball too.

if u strike out, take your lumps, this too shall pass, you will recover from it and have another chance at bat.

db9

 

[BAW]

i think they should ban T-Ball too.

if u strike out, take your lumps, this too shall pass, you will recover from it and have another chance at bat.

db9

I don't know about that...a T-ball game would take 5 hours if they got rid of the T and made them hit pitches!

 

[WinnieThePoo]

which reminds me

must buy sour worms in stop&shop


grrrrr..........

 

[Pearl]

originally posted by Miss VelvetDress_75
I watched a special on tv a month or so back and it was about the "Now Generation". Interesting studies were done. Psychologist interviewed on the program stated that the children in this "now generation" are the most over protected children in history. They also interviewed a CEO of a Fortune 500 company and he said that kids who are now entering the work force are having a hard time adjusting to corporate life because they are not getting the constant praise that they were used to. He said some of the younger staff assume they should be praised for just showing up to work

That reminds me of a story in Newsweek I read over the summer. It was about how kids today are overmaterialstic, and everything they want is given to them. The article said that because of this, these kids could grow up to have emotional and mental problems. That, along with kids being overprotected and sheltered from any conflict, makes it sound like we're going to have a whole generation of young people without any backbone to get through life. I'm sure it won't be that bad, but it makes you wonder how kids are going to handle the real world when they get older.

 

[Saracene]

My childhood had two very different phases: until I was ten years old we had no personal computer, no VCR and an old B&W TV that rarely worked. There was no decent movie theatre in the town I lived in and very limited amount of books. I either read whatever was available or played outside with my friends and had scratched knees throughout the summer. Then in a very short period of time our family had the colour TV, the VCR and the PC with games on it. Well I lapped it all up like a cat and never felt nostalgia for a minute.

 

[diamond]

I don't know about that...a T-ball game would take 5 hours if they got rid of the T and made them hit pitches!

no it wouldn't.
the kids either would get walked or they would strike out.

it would move the game quicker.

db9

 

[melon]

My sister's kids watch a lot of TV and play a lot of video games. They also take karate, swimming, ballet and play soccer, badminton, and they skate, bike and read. All I had when I was a kid was the outdoors and 3 TV channels and I was bored to death. My sister's kids have it a lot better than I did and I am not nostalgic about the so-called good-old-days of my childhood in the 60's. Not one bit.

Exactly. This is why I'm not nostalgic. I sucked at all the "traditional" sports, like baseball, football, etc., and I had no alternatives. That's really probably why I was never really that physically active growing up. If I had had more options in the non-traditional realm, I probably would have been more active.

The only people who pine for the "good old days" are generally the same who latently miss the days before political correctness and hate multiculturalism. A lot of the original post sounds like yet another "angry white male" rant.

Well, the "good old days" were racist, homophobic, and mostly misogynist, along with having a contempt for anyone with intellect, in favor of deifying jocks/frat types. Blech.

I'm certainly not saying that the present is perfect. Kids should be more active, but, as it stands, a lot of kids don't feel comfortable in athletics, because "jock types" do a good job of belitting those who aren't very good. There's room for competitive athletics, so I definitely don't think they should be replaced, but there also needs to be more room for more non-competitive "intramural" sports. If college kids can pull off having both serious competitive sports teams, along with less serious, fun sports, I don't know why HS/elementary can't do it.

Melon

 

[Irvine511]

Most Americans would differ with you Irvine.

so?




bravo to Melon's last post.

nostalgia is dangerous.

 

[Ft. Worth Frog]

I disagree melon. I know many hispanics who long for the same days (my family included). I think it is something that is natural for all humans-we all want o go back to that childhood.

 

[MissMoo]

Which good old days are you talking about Melon? I think it depends on the exact time and place where you grew up. At the same time memories are so subjective that it really is an individual experience. I agree that nostalgia makes things seem a lot better, but not all change is for the best.

 

[She Is Raging]

I cant belive how lazy kids have gotten today. When I was younger... during the summer we werent even allowed in the house during daylight unless it was raining or lunchtime. And we didtn want to be in either!

 

[blueyedpoet]

i'm so confused....when exactly was this peaceful and prosperous america?
-pre civil war when we had slaves?
- civil war the atrocities (ie Sherman's March to the Sea)
- Jim Crow laws?
- trail of tears?
- the internment of japanese americans?
- vietnam?
- red scare?
- down sizing of the eighties?
- the 90s?

 

[Angela Harlem]

I dont think that only sporty kids had it made back then. I never was. Instead, I'd head up the dirt road with my willing army, determined that yabbying was better than street cricket. Catch and release, our yabbying was a pro outfit. We'd pretend to be Aboriginals and play in semi dry creek beds making warpaint and artwork from sandstone, dirt and any other liquified colour. We copied what we learned about the Aboriginals in school and discovered you can actually spray the back of your hand to leave a silhouette. We'd seek goannas, red bellied black snakes, trapdoor spiders. We never got bitten. Except once when we found a wounded Rosella who didn't take to kindly to being held and latched on to my friend's thumb one day, nearly requiring stitches.

Yes, there was plenty of cricket and rugby league and soccer in the street. But we grew up in the bush where tv was something you only did when it was pouring outside and mum wanted you to be quiet for 5 minutes peace.

I never knew boredom til I became an adult.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Yikes, I played outside, rode bikes without a helmet, climbed and jumped off fences, had water fights, was a scout, played sports and all that other stuff that was great fun. And then in high school I played video games, watched TV and all that stuff. Yay for variety.

LOL Angela about the yabbying ~ the old meat on a string I presume? oh that it how you get bait, first you get the yabbie and then you get yourself a trout. Having family around Guyra and going up there is a great way to get away from the city, and then having the other side of the family in Wollongong gave that whole beach thing (nothing quite like jumping into a channel out on the rocks and getting dumped through it.

Captain Blackadder

I, on the other hand, am a fully-rounded human being, with a degree from the University of Life, a diploma from the School of Hard Knocks, & three gold stars from the Kindergarten of Getting the Shit Kicked Out of Me.

 

[Anthony]

I would agree with Melon.

To quote; 'you glorify the past when the future dries up'.

I avoid getting nostalgic, in fear of sounding too much like a fading Southern Dame from a Tennesse Williams play.

Ant.

 

[U2democrat]

I also avoid getting nostalgic because we shouldn't be focused on the past but the future. And it must makes me sad