How Did We Survive

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.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors,
or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes we had no
helmets.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a
bottle.   Sometimes we drank from the same bucket of
untreated well water using the community dipper.

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.   Many of us had
to be home and ready to eat at mealtimes or mom would
get mad.   And we didn't necessarily have streetlights. 

We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would
really hurt.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar
soda, but we were never over weight; we were always
outside playing.   Some of us had to work in the
fields, and there were chores to be done.

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 or didn't
work hard so they failed a grade and were held back to
repeat the same grade.

That generation produced some of the greatest
risk-takers and problem solvers.   We had freedom,
failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
how to deal with it.