The Best Generation

I received an email from my officemate this morning.  Kinda cute and nostalgic.  I thought I should share this.

TO  ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED  THE

1930’s,  40’s, 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-base paints.

We  had no childproof lids on medicine  bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and  when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball  caps not helmets on our  heads.

As  infants & children,
We would ride  in cars with no car seats,
No booster  seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires  and sometimes no brakes.

Riding  in the back of a pick-up truck 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, real butter and  bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real  white sugar.
And, we weren’t  overweight.
WHY?

Because  we were
Always outside playing…that’s  why!

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 O.K.

We  would spend hours building our go-carts out of  scraps
And then ride them 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 Play stations, Nintendo’s and  X-boxes.
There  were no video games, 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 and no 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 put  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.

While  you are at it, forward it to your kids so they  will know
how  brave and lucky their parents  were.

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

I also received a similar email a few years back with Visayan side comments.  Here goes:

OUR GENERATION – THE BEST

TO ALL FOLKS WHO WERE BORN IN 1930’s, 1940’s, 1950’s, 60′ s,  70’s  and early 80’s !!

First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne and drank San Miguel Beer while they carried us.

While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, a tee Linunod, balikutsa, bukhayo and didn’t worry about diabetes.

Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, ang uban kay duyan nga habol gihigtan ug pisi nga inigtabyog ug kusog ma pakong intawon ta sa bongbong.

We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin lang sa General Milling nga naa’y faded picture nga nag-salute) and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads, wa pa gyu’y break ang bisikleta.

As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats (Bisaya Bus nga pultahan puros ang kilid, Corominas Bus nga senimana ang brake, trak ni Nitoy ug Ninoy), or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts (karon kay Minibus na nga nindot kaayo ug sounds or Ceres Bus nga bugnaw ug aircon)

Riding on the back of a carabao on a breezy summer day was considered a treat. (karon; ang mga bata wa na kaila ug Kabaw)

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT bottled mineral water sa Nature Spring or Viva, or Absolute Mineral water (usahay gani, straight from the faucet or poso or Tabay!)

We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine, bahaw nga gibutangan ug asin ug mantika sa baboy, linong-ag saging ug ginamos, drank raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank sofdrinks with real sugar in it (dili diet coke or Pepsi Max), but we weren’t sick or overweight kay……

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the streetlights came on. Syatong, Bato-Lata, Bagol, Dakop-Dakop, Tago-Tago, Ngita’g Kakak.

No one was able to reach us all day ( wala pa’y uso ang cellphone) . And yes, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys (kadtong bearing ang ligid) or Karitong Kawayan nga karaang tsinilas ang giporma nga ligid and then ride down the street , wa ma’y gidungog nga naligsan atoh!  After hitting the sidewalk or falling into a canal (sewage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem ourselves with our bare & dirty hands .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD’s, no cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters. …….. …WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..sakit bai ? pero kung kontra gani nimo ang imong kadula,,,,singgitan lang dayon ug..Maayora, Gabaan!

We played marbles (jolen) in the dirt, washed our hands just a little and ate Pan Bahug-bahug & Bagumbayan (recycled bread man diay to kay wa mahalin!) We were not afraid of getting germs in our stomachs.

We had to live with homemade toy guns (giporma nga kahoy, gihigtan ug garter ug lastiko) , saplong , tirador ug uban pa nga pwedeng magkasakitay. Pero lingaw gihapon kaayo ang tanan.

We made up games with sticks ( syatong ), and cans ( Bato-Lata ) and although we were told they were dangerous, wa man gyud to’y actual nga nabuta bah, bukol lang nuon sa agtang naa.

We walked, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or batoon ug gagmay nga bato ang bungbong, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wa pa nang mga childhood depression ug damaged self esteem ek-ek ra na. Ang maglagot, pildi.

Ang mga Ginikanan naa ra sa daplin para motan-aw ra sa duwa sa mga bata, dili para manghilabot ug makig-away sa ubang parents.

That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO’s, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

The past 60 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes the hard way.

You might want to share this with others who’ve had the luck to grow up as real kids. We were lucky indeed.

And if you like, forward it to your kids too, so they will know how brave their parents were.

It kind of makes you want to go out and climb a tree, doesn’t it?!

PS – The big letters are because your eyes may not be able to read this if they were typed any smaller (at your age? Duh!).

—

In My Nutshell

I may be tagged as “techie” by others’ standards.   And yes I pride being updated with the latest technological advancements and trends that I am able to grasp with the little resources that I have.  But those are just gadgets for me.  A means to be NOT lost in translation.  And it helps being adaptable to an ever-changing-globally-competitive.

It, however,  doesn’t define me as a “techie junkie” and how my preferences in leisure time are.  There are SO much that I don’t get in the world of technology.

I’d still go for old school.  I miss playing my childhood games.  I don’t see kids in our neighborhood running along our streets during Saturdays or having them group together and “show off” their cartwheeling skills.  No more groups of kids who would attempt leaping over the large canals, or who’s a faster runner and running against boys (like I used to do).

I miss  hanging upside down on our jungle gym and walking/balancing to get to the other side of our jungle gym a couple of feet above the ground.  The hanging I only get now is when I’m given a task with incomplete instructions and, I guess, from my occasional wall climbing sessions.

I also climbing up trees in our school (one tree in particular was my favorite because it was slanted and easy to climb up to).  But sadly, students in my alma mater won’t be able to experience that anymore since trees have been cut to make room for our school expansion.  Oh sure there are a few acacia trees and talisay trees on the side of the walkway, but it may require constant prodding or an SOP (standard operating procedures) from their PMT officers to actually make them climb up those trees.  SO high schoo! ^_^

A lot has changed.

Yup!  Looking back, things are totally different.  It’s fun reminiscing those good old days.  Maybe one of these days I’ll try it on again for size.  I’ll even invite a few of my friends (techie by nature, but old school kids at heart).  After all, I still haven’t tried making a kite or flying one!  Something to look forward to.  (haha!)

Enjoy reminiscing!