People over 35 should be dead.

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

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

We had no childproof 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 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 ate worms, and although we were told it would
happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did
the worms live inside us forever.

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.

Some students weren't as smart as others, so
they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the
same grade. Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any
reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were
expected.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we
broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with
the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best
risk-takers and 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. And you're one of them!

Congratulations.

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