CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's and
Early 80's !!!

First, you survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while
they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from
a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, your
baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. You had no
childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when you rode
your bikes, you had no helmets, not to mention, the risks you took
hitchhiking .. As children, you would ride in cars with no seat belts or
air bags. Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.
You drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle. You
shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this. You ate cakes, white bread and real butter and
drank pop with sugar in it, but you weren't overweight because...... YOU
WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! You 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 you all day. And you were OK. You would spend
hours building your go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill,
only to find out you forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a
few times, you learned to solve the problem . You did not have
Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels
on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no
text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat
rooms..........YOU HAD FRIENDS and you went outside and found them! You
fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents. You played with worms (well most boys
did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us
forever. You made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although you
were told it would happen, you did not poke out any eyes. You rode bikes
or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell,
or just yelled for them! Local teams 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 you out if you broke the law
was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! This generation has
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.
You had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and you learned
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!