Humphrey.Jones
----- Original Message -----
From: "Humphrey Jones" <Humphrey.Jones(a)btinternet.com>
To: < >
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 8:42 PM
Subject: [CLWYD] Fw: Getting Older
Humphrey.Jones
Subject: FW: Getting Older
Dear List ring any bells
Is this you?
I can remember those days well
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids
in
the 60s, 70s and early 80s probably shouldn't have survived, because our
baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was
promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or
cabinets and it was fine to play with pins.
When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and
fluorescent
'clackers' on our wheels. (I think you will find they were known
as spokey dokeys!).
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding
in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted
the same.
We ate chips, bread and butter pudding, and drank fizzy pop with sugar in
it, but
we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one
actually
died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top
speed down
the hill, only to find out that we forgot the brakes. After
running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the
problem.
We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we
were back
before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.
We did not have Play Stations or X-Boxes, in fact, no video games at all.
No 99
channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile
phones, no personal computers, and no Internet chat rooms.
We had friends - we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really
hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones, but there were no
lawsuits. We had
full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other
parents.
We played knock down-ginger and were afraid of the owners catching us.
We walked to friend's homes.
We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or
daddy
to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They
actually
sided with the law.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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're one of them. Congratulations!
Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids,
before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. For
those of
you who aren't old enough, I thought that you might like to read
about us.
This my friends, is surprisingly frightening ...... and it might put a
smile on your face:
The majority of students in universities today were born in
1983........they are called youth.
They have never heard of We are the World, We are the Children,
>nd the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.
They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena or Belinda
Carlisle.
For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.
AIDS has existed since they were born.
>
CDs have existed since they were born.
Michael Jackson has always been white.
To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't
imagine how
this fat guy could be a god of dance.
They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are Films from
last
year.
They can never imagine life before computers.
They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, Red Hand Gang or the Famous
Five.
They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why Don't You.
They can't believe a black and white television ever existed and don't
even
know how to switch on a TV without a remote control.
And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a
mobile phone.
Now let's check if we're getting old.
>.
1) You understand what was written above and you smile.
2) You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after
a night out.
3) Your friends are getting married/already married.
4) You are always surprised to see small children playing
comfortably with computers.
5) When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.
6) You remember watching Dirty Den in EastEnders the first time round.
7) You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the
good old days, repeating again all the funny stories you have
experienced together.
8) Having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to
some other friends because you think they will like it too...
Yes, you're getting older!!!!
> Humphrey
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