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Saturday, July 24, 2010

It's My Birthday!

Oh yes, oh yes! That's lil' ol' me! I don't look very happy do I?

This is a bit of a re-post from last year, with a few portions deleted, and an update.

"Lucky to be alive".

It's just a commentary on how times have changed and how someone of the ripe old age of 49 (did I type that?) is lucky to be around considering all the shenanigans we got into as kids and considering all the new fangled safety devices that are around to protect our children today.

As a child:
We never wore seat belts. Not required. Most cars didn't have them. And us kids fought over the front seat. The most unsafe spot in the car for a child!
We never wore bicycle helmets. What helmet?.
We never had any anti-bacterial soaps or cleaners.
We never had hand sanitizer.
We drank tap water without a second thought.
We drank from the garden hose all summer long. Every summer!
We ran wild through the neighborhood, or the next few over and our parents were none the wiser as long as we were home on time for lunch and dinner.
We trick-or-treated by ourselves and ate most of our candy before we got home.
We used insect repellent products containing 100% Deet or some more deadly carcinogen.
Rambunctious toddlers ran loose and our parents didn't have a care in the world. There were no toddler leashes or GPS Nanny Devices. Speaking of nannies, we didn't have nannies or governesses unless we were British royalty or our names were von Trapp.
We didn't have to worry about "R" rated movies. There were either movies everyone could watch, or XXX movies. And us kids didn't know about those, unless we had some pretty cool teenage friends.
We raced on our bicycles chasing the ice cream truck like starving orphans, without any regard to other vehicular traffic. And it came every single summer day.
Mr. Rogers was our neighbor and he came into our living rooms every day and no one thought that was the slightest bit odd, this kind of man-child who played with puppets and trolleys in the neighborhood of make-believe.
If our parents were smokers, they smoked literally everywhere. At fast food restaurants, bars, grocery stores, airplanes. Just about anywhere but church. There was no consideration for secondhand smoke. It was smoke em if ya got em.
There was no stranger danger.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint and the space between the rails was dangerously large enough for us to get our heads or even or bodies stuck in.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets.
Toys were painted with lead paint and had dangerously sharp edges. Recalls were unheard of.
We spent hours at construction sites, watching the big equipment from close-up.
If we got hurt at a friend's house or at school, there were no lawsuits. They were accidents and no one was at fault!
We drank Fresca and Tab with saccharine and cyclamates.
We didn't have computers and a television in our rooms. We had Commodore 64 (if we were really lucky) and the lone television in the family room. (Color, if we were lucky.)
We did not have PSP's, Nintendo DS's, Game Boys, Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, Wii's, video games at all, 99 channels on cable, Blueray movies, DVD movies, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, Iphones, Droids, Personal Computers, Internet chat rooms, Facebook ... we had friends.
Our actions were our ours. Consequences were guaranteed! If we broke a law, our parents were on the side of law enforcement!

Think of it.

How is it we survived? And how did so many of us survive?

I'm so glad you did, so you can join me in celebrating my birthday!
Thank you for stopping by.

I don't know exactly what my plans are, other than we will be briefly attending a bbq and a wine tasting was suggested. Makes no difference to me...I'm happy with the company and it doesn't matter where we are or what we do.

Lola's Diner ©2008-2010

10 comments:

I am Harriet said...

We turned out okay too- didn't we?

I still drink Tab and Fresca if I'm lucky enough to find them (living in the boonies).

I am Harriet said...

Oh...happy b-day!

Next year you can join AARP!

JD at I Do Things said...

Happy b-day, you cute all-grown-up baby!

I loved reading this, 'cuz we are the same age, and I experienced all these things. I have especially fond memories of playing all day and evening (home by dark) in the neighborhood and just going wherever we wanted.

I'm glad I grew up the way I did.

Lin said...

Happy Birthday, Pally!!! I hope it is a good one. Well, I hope your face is happier than this baby shot. :)

Lin said...

I can remember riding in the back of the station wagon with our heads out the window--no seat belts and breathing in car fumes. And when our parents filled the car with gas, we'd run to the back of the car to smell the fumes. Do you remember the gas with the lead???

Yeah, that explains a LOT, doesn't it?

Debbie said...

Have a super birthday! Mine is in a few days and I am going to repost this. (with credit, of course)

Real Live Lesbian said...

Happy Birthday!!!!! I love that!

cardiogirl said...

Happy belated birthday. I loved Tab, do they still make that?

And did you ever catch Mr. Dress Up? He was from Canada and he had bitchy little puppet friend named Casey and a sweet puppet dog named Finnegan.

Blanca said...

Happy belated birthday! I loved reading this post because it reminds me so much of my own childhood although I grew up in Europe. I guess kids were just kids almost everywhere back then... And I think we were actually happier than the kids nowadays.

Take care, bye bye!

sandy said...

Happy Belated, you don't look very happy. Wonder what was going on.
Sandy
Aug Chall

 
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