Those Were The Days

The following has been making the rounds on the internet. Although I have read it many times, it still brings back vivid memories of days gone by – memories of the innocent years, as well as the harsh times – whenever I read it. If you are one of those born in that era, you will no doubt see the progress of the times. 

To all those who were born in the 50s, 60s and 70s

First we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked and cleaned while taking care of us at the same time. We took aspirin, candy floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrup And diabetes was rare. Salt added to Pepsi or coke was remedy for fever. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycle motorcycles. Richer ones in cars without the seatbelts or airbags. Riding in the back of a private taxi is a special treat. We drank water from the tap and not from the bottle. We would spend hours in the fields under bright sunlight, flying our kites. Without worrying about UV rays which never seem to affect us. We go into the jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.

With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be an endless game. With a ball, we boys would run like crazy for hours. We caught guppies in drains or canals and when it rained we swam there. We share one soft drink with 4 friends from on bottle and no one actually worried about being unhygienic. We ate salty, very sweet and oily food, candies bread and real butter and drank very sweet coffee or tea, ice kachang, but we weren’t over weight because…. We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, Only to find out that we forgot the brakes, after running into the bushes a few times we learn to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, multiple channels on Cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sounds, no phones, no PC, no internet.

We had Friends. And we went out and found them. We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts. We never had birthday parties until we were 21. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Yet this generation had produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 40 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 may want to share this with others who have the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, Forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were!