Touching on the subject of baby boomers again, I got this rather humorous e-mail from a high school classmate. As I read it, I become more aware that yeah!, the things written here are true. Have a read.
First, some of us survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they carried us. (sioktong ang inumin)
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, fish from a can
(brand : ligo ), and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright
colored lead-based paints, pati na yung laruang kabayu-kabayuhan.
(toy horses included)
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinetsand when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads , sometimes wala ngang preno yung bisikleta. (sometimes no brakes too)
As children, we would ride in car with no seat belts or air bags
- hanggang ngayon naman, di ba ? (still being done)
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a
special treat. ( maykaya kayo pare ! )
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle
(minsan straight from the faucet)
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
NO ONE actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis.
We ate rice with tinunaw na purico ( dahil ubos na ang star
margarine) , nutribuns na galing kay macoy and drank popdrinks
with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight kasi nga ......( overall, eating fat-laded food, but we were not 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. Sarap mag patintero,
tumbang preso , habulan taguan....(street games)
No one was able to reach us all day ( di uso ang celfon , walang
beepers ). And we were O.K. (no cellphones or pagers)
We would spend hours building our trolleys or slides out of
scraps and then ride down the street , 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. 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 play in the dirt , wash our hands a little and ate with our
barehands...we were not afraid of getting worms in our stomachs.
We have to live with homemade guns - gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng
rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng
makasakit.....pero walang nagrereklamo.
......made up games with sticks ( syatong ) and cans ( tumbang preso)
and although we were told it would happen, wala naman tayong
binulag o napatay....paminsan minsan may nabubukulan.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the
door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the
team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Walang sumasama ang loob. NO stage mothers!
Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang
bata....hindi para makialam. ( parents were there to watch not to meddle)
This generation of ours has produced some of the best
risk-takers, problem solvers and managers 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! Congrats baby boomer!
First, some of us survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they carried us. (sioktong ang inumin)
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, fish from a can
(brand : ligo ), and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright
colored lead-based paints, pati na yung laruang kabayu-kabayuhan.
(toy horses included)
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinetsand when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads , sometimes wala ngang preno yung bisikleta. (sometimes no brakes too)
As children, we would ride in car with no seat belts or air bags
- hanggang ngayon naman, di ba ? (still being done)
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a
special treat. ( maykaya kayo pare ! )
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle
(minsan straight from the faucet)
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
NO ONE actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis.
We ate rice with tinunaw na purico ( dahil ubos na ang star
margarine) , nutribuns na galing kay macoy and drank popdrinks
with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight kasi nga ......( overall, eating fat-laded food, but we were not 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. Sarap mag patintero,
tumbang preso , habulan taguan....(street games)
No one was able to reach us all day ( di uso ang celfon , walang
beepers ). And we were O.K. (no cellphones or pagers)
We would spend hours building our trolleys or slides out of
scraps and then ride down the street , 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. 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 play in the dirt , wash our hands a little and ate with our
barehands...we were not afraid of getting worms in our stomachs.
We have to live with homemade guns - gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng
rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng
makasakit.....pero walang nagrereklamo.
......made up games with sticks ( syatong ) and cans ( tumbang preso)
and although we were told it would happen, wala naman tayong
binulag o napatay....paminsan minsan may nabubukulan.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the
door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the
team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Walang sumasama ang loob. NO stage mothers!
Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang
bata....hindi para makialam. ( parents were there to watch not to meddle)
This generation of ours has produced some of the best
risk-takers, problem solvers and managers 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! Congrats baby boomer!
Sioktong! Back when I was a small kid (about five or six), parati akong nakakakita ng sioktong sa tindahan na binibilhan ko malapit sa bahay. Akala ko dati patis yun o di kaya ay toyo. Ahaha :) I remember those days very well. Ngayon wala na akong makitang nagbebenta ng sioktong.
ReplyDeleteTime flies. And it takes away some of the simplest sources of joy and curiosity in life.