Against All Odds | Hllywd's Blog

11:45 PM ET 02.07
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TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 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 tummies 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 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 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 OK.

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

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 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 .

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

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February 8, 2008 12:01 AM ET

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Lets here it for the kids of '85 too, shall we?

Dawgee

Detroit, MI

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February 8, 2008 12:02 AM ET

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good blog, the kids that were born in 1985 were pretty tough too, but other than that . . .

Dawgee

Detroit, MI

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February 8, 2008 12:08 AM ET

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"85??? I've got ties older than that. That's when our kids were born.

Hllywd: Old…

Columbus , OH

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February 8, 2008 12:13 AM ET

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I've gotten this lecture from my mommy before.

thehemogoblin

The University Of, OR

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February 8, 2008 12:37 AM ET

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sigh
good times :)

KPKahder -

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February 8, 2008 05:37 AM ET

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You know you're getting old when.... a blog like this strikes a chord. :)

Oso Famoso

Palinville, AK

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February 8, 2008 07:26 AM ET

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I heard the same spiel from my Grand dad a couple of weeks ago but it was about the serials on the wireless and shiny bottle caps. And how we kids don't appreciate the never ending excitement of a good ol game of snakes and ladders.

Meet Joe Black

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February 8, 2008 07:47 AM ET

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I've heard of all this stuff. Some of it is completely true about my generation; other parts are a tad exaggerated though. Some kids (like myself) still spend entire days outside with no relations to mommy or daddy. Of course, I'm not one of the overweight ones that you speak of.

G.O.A.T. is back?

Scranton, PA

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February 8, 2008 09:22 AM ET

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Don't even get me started on this... Oops! Too late! :)

In the summer, I would spend the entire day outside. Even when video games became household items (we got an Atari Computer when I was 12 or 13), mom would kick my sister and me out the door and we wouldn't come back until we were hungry. When I was seven, I would ride my bike to Kiwanis Park, which was a couple miles away, and I would be expected to make it back by suppertime WITHOUT MOMMY CALLING ME ON A CELL PHONE TO REMIND ME! And most of the time, I did just fine. And we wonder why no one is held accountable for their own actions these days...

Gad, I'm getting old! ;)

Nice blog!

Sneaky Pete

Rochelle, IL

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February 8, 2008 10:52 AM ET

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I couldn't even tell you how many times I argued with my parents about what "DARK" was. I would have stayed out all night.

I agree Sneaky Pete. Summers were awesome. My kids always said they were bored. They played organzed sports, but nothing else.

Has anyone even heard of pickle. It is what made me such a good 3rd baseman.
Great blog. Brings back memories.

Dallas Clark- SB in…

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February 8, 2008 10:58 AM ET

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I'm an 80's baby, so I don't know how to feel about this. I was born in 1981 to be exact.

J. HOVA: BROOKLYN

Brooklyn, NY

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February 8, 2008 11:44 AM ET

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J HOVA

You know I've told you on more than one occassion--you are an exception. Most guys your age don't "Roll" like you do.

Hllywd: Old…

Columbus , OH

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February 8, 2008 12:18 PM ET

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We could be twins. One summer my sibling and I threw stones at the street lights so we could stay out later., course the city came right out and fixed them, boy! where are the city workers now.

Foxy's Back

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February 8, 2008 12:35 PM ET

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hahahaha - too funny. Last night I was reading another whiny liberal article on Communist News Network about the horrors of Waterboarding (elevating the feet while pouring water on the face - supposedly simulating drowning) ... then I thought back to a photo of me as a baby being given a bath ... now I realize the horror that my parents subjected me to. sniff sniff ... sometimes I can still hear the echoes of my own screams.

Mr. Pete

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February 8, 2008 12:55 PM ET

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Has anyone even heard of pickle. It is what made me such a good 3rd baseman.

Dallas Clark has a tight end | 02/08/08, 10:52 AM

Yup. We used to run "pickle drills" in our backyard in the springtime and summertime. That's where you practice tagging a baserunner out when they get caught between bases.

It's not as easy as it looks... When I was the assistant coach on my step son's little league team, we ran pickle drills every other practice. The kids LOVED them, and they ended up getting a lot of cheap outs that season... ;)

Sneaky Pete

Rochelle, IL

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February 8, 2008 12:56 PM ET

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Oh, you guys had Styx, the Bee Gees, American Bandstand, and I'm jealous.

Try growing up in the 90's. All the older kids were depressed and angry. Man, the 90's sucked.

Deep South Sider

Atl, GA

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February 8, 2008 01:12 PM ET

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I LOVE IT!

Jabril1217

Tucker , GA

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February 8, 2008 02:26 PM ET

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The 90's were pretty bad. Got to agree with Deep South Sider on that. I turned 9 in 1990, and 18 in 1999. So, I guess I can say 80's born and 90's raised but I was always an old soul and there is a big part of me that understands what Hllywd is saying here.

J. HOVA: BROOKLYN

Brooklyn, NY

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February 8, 2008 02:27 PM ET

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Because some of the kids I see today make me want to go crazy. Especially teenagers. I just don't get them anymore, and I'm only 26. I'm not that far removed from a 16 year old by numerical age but we are light-years apart.