Ease My Worried Mind

I know many people will have seen this--I've gotten it a couple of times myself, but I think it gives rise to some thoughts about where we are in the world and whether we should worry. Let me know what you think?

I think the world has changed (not all for the better). Some of these worries I think are real, but some are probably born of the media sensationalism that we are now all exposed to on a daily basis. We wonder why there is an obesity epidemic among our children--well, they can't go out and play unless you are the security guard these days. Because of the media--we worry that every apple at Halloween will be filled with razor blades. Because of the media, we worry that if they do eat dirt, they will get horrible bugs in their intestines. As a grandmother, I have moved the kind of worries mentioned below to my grandkids. My adult children should now be able to take care of themselves--however, I still worry.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!


First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, 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.
We 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, white bread and real 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 ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for 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!


You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

Laboring on Labor Day

I never got the idea of Labor Day--a day of rest for all the workers of the world, but what do people do--they go to the stores, which means that somebody has to labor, some folks don't get the day off. I guess that's why I always wanted to work for the Federal Government. We get tons of days -all those federal holidays when the rest of the world still has to work. Columbus Day,Labor Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day,....which the retail industry turns into a reason to have a sale--another concept that doesn't make sense to me.

Somewhere on the news, or on some show today they talked about the fact that 1/5 of the people in the United States makes up for like 85% of the income--I think I'm off, but the concept was that the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. It's a sad state of affairs when Americans are less healthy than the poor of England. I still haven't understood how folks that have been barely breaking even can deal with gas at $3.00/gallon or higher. Of course, this was the first holiday weekend that the gas stations/companies didn't raise the prices.

With the increase in gas prices, the grocery prices have gone up as well. It amazes me that I live in Georgia, but peaches never went below about 80 cents a pound--and they were hard as rocks, and when they ripened, they dried up and were yucky. The only foods that haven't gone up as much are the snack foods that aren't good for you anyway. Do the companies out there care about the obesity rates in the US, or are all these conglomerates owned by foreign nationals who would love to bring the US down--while they take our money, killing us softly--

And, to top it all of, Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter died.

A strange Monday--lots to think about

Nancy