To all the kids born in the 50's to early 80's

R emailed this to me today. I had a blast reading it! I sent her a reply ~ I'll put that
in a separate post.

The article has been going around the internet for quite some time so I don't really
know who wrote it. If you do, kindly send me a note so I can acknowledge the writer.
Thanks!

Happy Reading!

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TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN
in the 1950's, 60' s, 70's even early 80's !!

First,
some of us survived
being born to mothers
who did not have an OB-Gyne
and drank San Miguel Beer
while they carried us.

While pregnant,
they took cold or cough medicine,
ate isaw, and didn't worry
about diabetes.

Then after all that trauma,
our baby cribs were made of hard wood
covered with lead-based paints,
pati na yung walker natin,
matigas na kahoy din
at wala pang gulong.

We had no soft cushy cribs
that play music,
no disposable diapers (lampin lang),
and when we rode our bikes,
we had no helmets, no kneepads,
sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.

As children, we would ride in
hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats
(yung JD bus na pula),
or cars with no airconditioning
& no seat belts
(ngayon lahat may aircon na!)

Riding on the back of a carabao
on a breezy summer day
was considered a treat.
(ngayon hindi na nakakakita
ng kalabaw ang mga bata)

We drank water
from the garden hose
and NOT from a bottle
purchased from 711
(minsan straight from
the faucet or poso)

We shared one soft drink bottle
with four of our friends,
and NO ONE actually died from this.
Or contracted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine,
ate raw eggs straight from the shell,
and drank softdrinks with real sugar
(hindi coke zero),
and we weren't sick or overweight kasi nga......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home
in the morning
and play all day,
and get back when
the streetlights came on.

Sarap mag patintero,
tumbang preso,
habulan at taguan.

No one was able to reach us all day
(di uso ang cellphone
at walang beepers).
And yes,
we were O.K.

We would spend hours
building our wooden trolleys
(yung bearing ang gulong)
or plywood slides out of scraps
and then ride down the street,
only to find out we forgot the brakes!
After hitting the sidewalk
or falling into a canal
(sewerage channel) a few times,
we learned to solve the problem ourselves
with our bare & dirty hands.

We did not have Playstations,
PSP's Nintendos, X-boxes,
no video games at all,
no 100 channels on cable,
no DVD movies,
no surround stereo,
no IPOD's,
no cell phones,
no computers,
no Internet,
no chat rooms,
no Friendster,
no YouTube,
no multiply....

WE HAD REAL FRIENDS
and we went outside
to actually talk and play with them!

We fell out of trees,
got cut, broken bones and teeth
and there were no stupid lawsuits
from these accidents.

The only rubbing we get
is from our friends with the words..
masakit ba?

Pero pag galit yung kalaro mo,
ang sasabihin sa iyo..
beh buti nga !

We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt ,
washed our hands just a little
and ate dirty ice cream & fish balls.
We were not afraid
of getting germs in our stomachs.

We had to live
with homemade guns..
gawa sa kahoy,
tinali ng rubberband,
sumpit, tirador at
kung ano-ano pa
na puedeng makasakitan.

Pero masaya pa rin ang lahat.

We made up games
with sticks (syatong),
and cans (tumbang preso)
and although we were told
they were dangerous,
wala naman tayong binulag o napatay.

Paminsan-minsan
may nabubukulan lang.

We walked,
rode bikes, or took tricycles
to a friend's house
and knocked on the door
or rang the bell,
or just yelled for them
to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teams had tryouts
and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't pass
had to learn to deal
with the disappointment.

Wala yang mga childhood depression
at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan.
Ang pikon, talo.

Ang magulang ay nandoon lang
para tignan kung ayos lang ang mga bata,
hindi para makialam
at makipag-away sa ibang parents.

That generation of ours
has produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers, creative thinkers
and successful professionals ever!
They are the CEO's, Engineers, Doctors
and Military Generals of today.

The past 50 years
have been an explosion
of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success,
and responsibility.
We learned from our mistakes
the hard way.

You might want
to share this with others
who've had the luck to grow up
as real kids.
We were lucky indeed!

And if you like,
forward it to your kids too,
so they will know how brave
their parents were..

It kind of makes you
wanna go out and climb a tree,
doesn't it?!