It's A Wonder We Ever Survived!

To Those of Us Born Between 1930 – 1979…

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate bleu cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck 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, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight… WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

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 OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them 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 Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no 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 would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

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 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!

These generations have 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.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

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 so much of our lives… for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

Republicans and Health Care

WHY are the Republicans suddenly so concerned about health care?

What I find interesting is that in light of the Democrats' effort to extend health care to all Americans, the Republicans are suddenly paying attention. It seems they're concerned about how we can get insurance to the significant percentage of Americans who have none without bankrupting the country, destroying the insurance industry, and careening towards 'soft' socialism and ever more governmental intrusion into everyday life.

And, mind you, it seems like they have some good ideas. Surely there must be a way to help the uninsured. Surely, in a society like ours, where health care is sophisticated and expensive, there must be a way for that society to care for those without means. And even more surely, the plans that the Democrats are forwarding are about as creative as the Great Society. (Read: 'Every problem is a Crisis, and the solution to every Crisis involves the Federal Government and your tax dollars.')

I would argue that, as is frequently the case, the Republicans have more practical and workable ideas than the Democrats do.

My beef is this: If Republicans cared so much about health care and the uninsured, why didn't they do something about it when they had the White House and both houses of Congress? (For YEARS!) Why are they waiting until the Democrats are in power and in a position to impose ever more government on the American people?

Here's my theory: The big problem with conservatives in general and Republicans in particular is that they are blind to the plight of those genuinely in need. They lump them in with the freeloaders who prey on peoples' compassion and pull the 'personal responsibility' card. This creates a vacuum that liberals eagerly fill. Liberals who tend to really care about the poor, but have ridiculous, abysmal, ideologically driven "solutions" for the problems.

Memo to the Republican Party:

Start caring.

Use your practical, workable market-based solutions to solve problems for people in need instead of reacting to what the Democrats do. Stop being blind to the plight of the poor and who knows? You might win some elections. And maybe even save us from the government in the process.