On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:31:00 -0500, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com wrote:

Airbus wrote:
In the old days, people in general were much less fearful than they are
today, and often much less reckless as well (there is some correlation
between the two).

So as people in general become more fearful, they also become more reckless.
Tell us about the correlation . . .


Many kids today are being pussified by fearful parents. Stuff that was commonly
done when I was growing up now counts as the height of parental negligence.
Nobody wore bike helmets; we went out to play all day long without checking in;
certainly without wearing a pager or carrying a cell phone.

I got this in an email yonks ago and have no idea where it comes from:

" According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us
who were kids in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early
80's,
probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based
paint.

We had no childproof lids or locks 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 children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air
bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was
always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
Horrors!

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with
sugar in
it, but we were never overweight because we were always
outside playing.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle,
and no one
actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and
then rode 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 would leave home in the morning and play all day, as
long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one
was able to
reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video
games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies,
surround sound,
personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat
rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really
hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and
there
were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents.
No one
was to blame but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue
and
learned to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although
we were told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home 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.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in
school or broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided
with the school or the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers, and inventors, ever.

We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility -- and
we
learned how to deal with it.

And you're one of them! Congratulations."