# When my generation were young
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 20, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158 "2014-03-20T16:04:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bonner100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonner100)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/1 "2014-03-20T16:04:20Z")
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’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 stomachs in baby cribs 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 even mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
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 and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, 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 ourselves, without employing a Management Consultant.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, 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 or chat rooms…
WE HAD FRIENDS and we actually 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 poke 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. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/2 "2014-03-20T16:05:44Z")
Wow … that’s just a glurgey here as it is on the other 1056 websites it’s been pasted on.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/3 "2014-03-20T16:07:21Z")
Did my mum send you this email too?
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### Author:  [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/4 "2014-03-20T16:08:54Z")
Most of us also have facebook. Most of us block this stuff.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/5 "2014-03-20T16:09:01Z")
I certainly don’t have the time to go point by point and explain why virtually all those “truisms” ain’t that true.
ETA: I spend my days with college students, and I tell you they are a whole lot of pretty terrific kids these days, who are bright, engaged, hard working.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/6 "2014-03-20T16:10:56Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#):
>
> I certainly don’t have the time to go point by point and explain why virtually all those “truisms” ain’t that true.
>
> ETA: I spend my days with college students, and I tell you they are a whole lot of pretty terrific kids these days, who are bright, engaged, hard working.
Or how many of the kids born during those years died.
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/7 "2014-03-20T16:12:03Z")
> [@Bonner100](#):
>
> TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s!!
How come the 1930s don’t get a gratuitous apostrophe? Couldn’t afford one during the Great Depression?
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/8 "2014-03-20T16:13:00Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> Or how many of the kids born during those years died.
No kidding. I love the idea that the lack of health and safety info made our lives better. One of my childhood friends died taking a header off his bike. I don’t know if a helmet would’ve saved him, but how is not having one better?
Oh, and let’s not forget the institutionalized sexism and racism! Good times!
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### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/9 "2014-03-20T16:49:04Z")
Of course, everyone seems to forget that the kids who did these things are now the adults making sure that kids don’t do these things.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/10 "2014-03-20T17:37:46Z")
It’s Selective Memory Man!
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### Author:  [@claramorena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/claramorena)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/11 "2014-03-20T17:59:50Z")
Ah yes,
My grandfather was kid during the 1930s, yup little sister dying of polio, his family having to break up since his parents didn’t have jobs. Then being drafted in the War.
1950s and 60s = Racism, Red Scare, and Home air conditioning was rare.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/12 "2014-03-20T18:01:50Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#):
>
> Of course, everyone seems to forget that the kids who did these things are now the adults making sure that kids don’t do these things.
That is such a good point!
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/13 "2014-03-20T18:11:23Z")
Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/14 "2014-03-20T18:29:43Z")
Yeah, I used to sit on my mom’s lap on the front seat and I remember a couple of times hitting the windshield when my dad had to slam on the brakes but it didn’t have any long term butter muffins ennui.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/15 "2014-03-20T18:31:16Z")
> [@Bonner100](#):
>
> 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!
THANK GOD for alcohol, huh!
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/16 "2014-03-20T18:32:38Z")
> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> How come the 1930s don’t get a gratuitous apostrophe? Couldn’t afford one during the Great Depression?
The Kaiser had stolen our apostrophes. And our belt-onions.
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/17 "2014-03-20T18:35:37Z")
97% of my friends won’t forward this, but 3% will.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/18 "2014-03-20T18:37:11Z")
When my generation was young, people tried to put us down just because we got around.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/19 "2014-03-20T18:38:05Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#):
>
> Yeah, I used to sit on my mom’s lap on the front seat and I remember a couple of times hitting the windshield when my dad had to slam on the brakes but it didn’t have any long term butter muffins ennui.
You just made me spit Sun Drop all over my monitor. Which, on balance, is probably not altogether a bad thing - stuff’s nasty.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-my-generation-were-young/684158/20 "2014-03-20T18:45:57Z")
Don’t try to dig what we all say.
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