We didn't know we weren't safe

As I look forward to my 61st birthday, I reflect on how the past 55 years of our lives have changed, only because I don't remember much of the first six years. Is that normal?

The reason I ask this question is that I sense that as a society we have become paranoid about everything we do and what we put in and on our bodies.

Born in 1947, we were a pretty normal family living in southern Ohio. We survived the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I was born to parents who both smoked cigarettes regularly. Mom drank during both of her pregnancies. She cooked with lard and bacon grease, used real butter, and we let the milk sit out on the table for hours. We ate leftovers a week later and never got ill from eating them.

Our medicine bottles never had safety lids and aspirin was the only drug I can remember taking. We did have a purple salve that we rubbed on anything on our body that was infected. I think we even used it on our dog a couple of times.

We rode our bikes for miles, without helmets, and modified them so that they would go faster. I remember riding in my parents' car standing up in the front seat, before cars had padded dashes or seat belts or air bags. And a ride in the bed of a pick-up was better than any convertible on a summer day.

When thirsty, we drank from a tin cup hanging from an iron well head, a garden hose or a stream by our house. At the local neighborhood store, four of my friends and I would share a single 10 cent bottle of pop that was made from sugar. No backwash was the rule. Oh, and no one died from that and no one was overweight because no matter what the weather, we were outside playing, morning to night, just back to the house when the streetlights would come on.

We had a TV, but only three channels and no remote. No cable, no satellite dishes, X-Boxes, computers, cell phones. We had friends but we had to leave the house to "chat" with them.

We tripped and fell on uneven sidewalks, fell out of the neighbors' trees, broke bones but sought no monetary gain by suing someone. I remember getting BB guns for Christmas, playing army and cowboys and Indians with toy guns of all kinds.

Children felt safe at school and dealt with bullies in their own way. The idea of a parent bailing us out of a problem was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

We learned from our experiences and grew from them. Our generation produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and quality individuals of any generation that I know of.

The past 50 years have seen a flood of new ideas and innovations. We've had successes, failures, and taken responsibility for it all. I guess those were the days...or were they?