WHAT IS A SENIOR CITIZEN?

I came across this recently and thought it might bring a smile to the faces of many of you.

A ‘Senior Citizen’ is one who was here before the pill, before television, frozen foods, credit cards and ball point pens.

For us, ‘time-sharing’ meant togetherness - not owning a piece of real estate; a ‘chip’ meant a piece of wood or potato - nothing to do with computers; ‘hardware’ meant hardware and ‘software’ was not even a word; teenagers never wore slacks. We were before panty-hose, drip dry clothes, dishwashers, clothes-dryers, microwave ovens, CD players and electric blankets.

We got married first, then lived together and thought ‘cleavage’ was something butchers did. We were before Batman, disposable nappies, jeeps, pizzas, instant coffee and ‘Kentucky Fried’ hadn’t been thought of yet.

In our day cigarette smoking was fashionable, ‘grass’ was for mowing, ‘pot’ was something you cooked in, a ‘gay’ person was the life of the party, while ‘aids’ meant beauty lotions or help for someone in trouble.

Congratulations to those born between 1930 to 1979 - you survived the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue 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-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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. As was travelling to Sunday School pic-nics crowded into the back of the local Removalists’Van!

 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 Kool-aid made with sugar, 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or 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. They were, well, ACCIDENTS!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given 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 police and 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!

CONGRATULATIONS! We are today’s ‘Senior Citizens’. A hardy bunch when you think how the world has changed and the adjustment we have had to make.

 

Makes you think doesn’t it ! You’ll be surprised at how many seniors who have mastered computers and are happily surfing the Internet in their retirement !