Getting Old - How true is this?

[Jonathan64]

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's 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 pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.

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 juice 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 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, no video games at all. No 99
channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt!

We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits.

We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played chap-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners
catching us.

We walked to friends' 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 as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.

For those of you who aren't old enough, thought 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 1986........They are called youth.

They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children, and the
Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.

For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.

AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's 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, RedHand 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 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 around.

7. You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the good Old days, repeating again all the funny things you have experienced together.

8. Having read this post, you are thinking of copying it and forwarding it to some other friends because you think they will like it too...

Yes, you're getting old!!

[andy pandy]

Reading that a blast from the past hey, cracking post well done....green incomming..

im getting old and only 34

andy

[ratcliffe]

Hmmm, I am now officially "old". Now where is me zimmer frame, I'll have to borrow the Dude's

[Letz]

We were scared of the beat bobby and did as they told us.

We were up and already out before our parents at the weekend, met our friends and safely went to the Saturday Morning Pictures for sixpence WE had earned. Remember that?!

Officially old But, for me at least, life began again at 40

[David G]

Bugger, bugger, bugger.....I can't really be that old can I?

I am the membership sec of our diving club and some of our members were born after I started diving.....................

........aaarrrggghhh.

We're all doomed............(and that's another catchphrase the 'youth' probably dont understand )

David.

[Scubee]

Originally Posted by Jonathan64

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.

Mostly, yes, except for a few months or so when my younger sister would wake us up at about 5 am am repeating, ad nauseum ... 'I don't want to go to school!!!' (she would pronounce it skooooooo- wul' and my older sister and I had to squish either side of her in the car so she couldn't escape and run off!

She hates being reminded of it now, especially as she is a teacher!

The rest of that... how true. It does make me feel very old. I got a wonderful text on my birthday... it said... If 60 is the new 40, then you are 25. It took me a while to figure it out, but I guess I am 15 years away from being what I used to regard as being middle aged!

One more... When we were young, we learned how to wash up properley. Now kids just learn how to load the dishwasher!

[Scubee]

Originally Posted by David G

We're all doomed............(and that's another catchphrase the 'youth' probably dont understand )

David.

Don't tell 'im your name, Pike

[Phil Laughton]

Started this game when I was a spotty youth, now I'm an old fart and still haven't got to the end of the game. I think someone keeps moving the goal posts.

[David G]

Originally Posted by Scubee

Now kids just learn how to load the dishwasher!

...and my two complain that doing that is too much like hard work!

[paramedic paul]

on the down side, thats it, i'm officially old!!!!

On a serious note, one of the biggest differences, as was intimated at, is we were allowed to have ACCIDENTS! no one had heard of "where theres blame, theres a claim" culture.

Ok i'm stopping now 'cos all sorts of rants are going through my head about the differences and i don't want labelling a TOG or Cumudgeon!! What do you mean i already am!!!!