For you regulars here at the SHoP, you know my disdain for Baby Boomers and my belief that a great many of them are self-important morons who don't come close to the merits and potential of The Greatest Generation and Gen X'ers, respectively. They are the generation of the Hippie, Sexual Revolution, Anti-War era, and Instant Gratification. Well, I got this email recently which kind of pissed me off, when I realized something--
TO THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.......Besides the fact that it seemed really arrogant for some Baby Boomer to write this up, I realized it had some merit...but if those times were so good for the Baby Boomers, then why the hell didn't they do the same for us Gen X'ers when they were the parents? Excuse me! Doesn't this write-up kinda say that IT'S THEIR FAULT for creating the differences between then and now?
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. 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 pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. W e 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, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
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 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 Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no internet or internet 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 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 in us forever.
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!
This generation has 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!
And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! (Did that, too.)
It is the Baby Boomer generation who got paranoid about lead-based paint, anti-bacterial soap, and childproof homes, then drugged up their kids on ritalin and then themselves on Viagra and Cialis.
It is the Baby Boomer generation who forgot that to be parents, they have to stop being their kids' friends.
It is the Baby Boomer generation who started kidnapping children in broad daylight outside of other parents' homes, created Cable TV, video games, and SUV's with LCD TV's in the back to further mentally medicate their children.
It is the Baby Boomer generation who became paranoid about their children in little league, and getting into fights with other childrens' parents just because they were on different teams, setting great examples by which to live.
It is the Baby Boomer generation who grew up to become lawyers and sue-happy, bankrupting doctors, and eventually horde social security.
If you are one of those, thanks a lot. It's my generation's responsibility to fix the crap that you left us. Hopefully, we can do the job.
Retards! All of you!
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