How Did We EVER Survive?

This column appeared in the Metro section of today's Tampa Tribune. Steve Otto is a columnist for the Tribune.

I thought it was worth bringing to the attention of the faithful readers of Herding Cats. I mean, gosh, how DID we survive without plastic safety plugs for electrical outlets, bicycle helmets, and locks on the toilets?

E-Mailed Essay Recalls A Time Before Internet
By STEVE OTTO
Published: Jan 16, 2006

Of course, I take everything my neighbor Capt. Marty says with a grain of salt, especially when he talks about raising kids.

He doesn't have any.

That doesn't mean you should weep for Capt. Marty. He has at least three motorcycles, a boat and a wife who makes Angelina Jolie look like Ma Kettle. His "Expedition Outfitters" plans exotic cycle trips, and this year's Christmas card featured the Capt. and the Mrs. holding snakes in the Casbah ... the real one, not the one at Busch Gardens.

Anyhow, the Capt. shipped over this essay from someone else about the good old days of growing up. I have no idea where it came from in the world of the Internet, but here's part of it.
To The Survivors
"To All the Kids Who Survived the 1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s"

"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.

"After that trauma we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright-colored lead-based paints.

"We had no child-proof lids 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 infants and children we would ride in cars with no seat belts, booster seats or air bags.

"We drank water from a garden hose and not a water bottle.

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

"We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-Aid with real sugar, but we weren't overweight because we were outside playing.

"We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-Boxes, no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.

"We had friends, and went outside and found them.

"We fell out of trees, got cuts, broke bones, cracked teeth and there were no lawsuits."
Well, Maybe You Did

"We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt and the worms did not live in us forever.

"We were given BB guns, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and we did not put out very many eyes.

"We rode bikes or walked to a friends house and knocked on the door or rang the bell or just walked in.

"Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

"These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.

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

There was more, but you get the gist of it.

While the Internet has taken us places we could only dream of before, at least we dreamed.

When I look at the way kids grow up today, I think one of the great losses is that opportunity to imagine and make decisions for yourself.

Have you noticed the disappearance of recess from schools? You do remember those minutes when you could do something that was not organized by adults. I think most of us learned more about life hanging around on the school grounds with our peers than we would ever pick up in class.

Anyhow, those words of wisdom were from Capt. Marty, who managed to grow up without putting away his toys.