How did we ever survive?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

How did we ever survive? Sometimes, I wonder how it is that my generation ever survived. If parents today were to let their children do the things that we did, they'd probably be arrested for child abuse, neglect or both!

We used to ride in the back of pickup trucks, on hay wagons and sitting on the fenders of tractors with a wagon or plow behind, and we're still here.

The cars back then didn't have seat belts or air bags and the dash boards weren't padded, and I still remember riding lots of places standing up in the front seat. When the driver hit the brakes, his or her right arm would come out to keep us kids from hitting the dash or falling on the floor. When we went on trips, our parents would use a board to make a bed out of the back seat for us to play on and sleep in while we traveled. The only car seats I remember seeing were ones without safety restraints which had a little steering wheel mounted on them so kids could have fun and get the hang of driving before they took off in the real thing.

We rode our bicycles without knee pads and safety helmets. There were some pretty bad scrapes and skinned-up arms and knees, but we lived to ride again.

The playground equipment didn't have wood shavings or rubber pellets underneath – just grass or dirt – but we still had fun in spite of the occasional broken arm or leg. We climbed trees too – to amazing heights – and made tree houses out of old lumber scraps and rusty nails. We didn't wear safety harnesses and sometimes fell; but there were no lawsuits. We just went home, got patched up and went back again to join our friends.

We drank water out of a cistern from the same drinking cup and didn't get sick. We shared the same bath water with our siblings and caught no life-threatening diseases. Our milk was sometimes farm-fresh and not pasteurized or homogenized and we didn't die. It wasn't even a crime for a kid to take a sip of beer at a public gathering, but it was no big deal and we were too busy having fun to want it anyway.

I can't remember not having a pocket knife. And, though we were warned about putting an eye out with our BB guns, we all had them by the time we were in second or third grade and did our best to reduce the numbers of sparrows and rabbits.

We swam in the same creeks and ponds where we fished and on occasion encountered snakes and snapping turtles, but we came back again another day.

When we did get sick, our parents gave us aspirin to swallow or chew. The only bad side effect I recall was a horrible taste in my mouth when I couldn't get it swallowed quickly enough.

When we could, we drank sugary pop, ate real chocolate cake, and enjoyed greasy hamburgers and French fries. But we didn't get fat because we were busy working or playing from sun-up to bed time.

How did we survive without seat belts, bicycle helmets and the many other safety rules and regulations which protect our children today? Why didn't we die of salmonella, Reye's syndrome or typhoid fever? We should have drowned, suffered snake bite and lost one or both eyes to BB guns, but we didn't. Oh, there were accidents, broken bones and chipped teeth; but, by the grace of God, we survived and had a lot of fun in the process!

Looking back, I'm glad we didn't have all the rules and regulations we have today. Somehow, watching television and movies of other people enjoying life and having fun doesn't sound like near as much fun as we had back in our childhood days. And, I'm glad I didn't have to worry about all the dreaded diseases and injuries that could have happened or I might have just sat in the house, played video games and become obese at a much earlier age.

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Editorial on 02/05/2014