firstsgtmike
07-22-03, 05:34 AM
The Drifter posted this about a year ago. I believe it is worth revisiting.
------------------------
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 specialtreat.
Our baby cribs were painted with bright colored
lead based paint. We often chewed on the crib, ingesting
he paint.
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.
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 street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.
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.
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 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 the freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned how to deal with it all.
----------------------------------
I would add an additional thought. The music, and the lyrics of OUR time, which expressed our feelings, better than we could have ever done ourselves.
A song shared by aging lovers, its significance imparted with a nod and a blink of the eyes, a shy smile, a momentary pressure to a held hand. "This is ours, this is us, remember?"
I pity the later generations, when a five alarm fire, with the shreiking sirens, the rumble of trucks, and the screams of panic and terror, causes him to look at her, and say "Listen dear, they're playing our song."
------------------------
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 specialtreat.
Our baby cribs were painted with bright colored
lead based paint. We often chewed on the crib, ingesting
he paint.
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.
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 street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.
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.
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 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 the freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned how to deal with it all.
----------------------------------
I would add an additional thought. The music, and the lyrics of OUR time, which expressed our feelings, better than we could have ever done ourselves.
A song shared by aging lovers, its significance imparted with a nod and a blink of the eyes, a shy smile, a momentary pressure to a held hand. "This is ours, this is us, remember?"
I pity the later generations, when a five alarm fire, with the shreiking sirens, the rumble of trucks, and the screams of panic and terror, causes him to look at her, and say "Listen dear, they're playing our song."