Old Folks of today - How did we survive?

An old style slide

I smiled to myself this week as I read an article in an English magazine regarding their Governments concern at the number of "old people" who seem to be increasing in numbers and how their society is going to be able to afford to keep them in these days of economic woe.
This is similar to the current situation in New Zealand and there are plenty of articles appearing in local newspapers discussing the merits of raising the retirement age to 67 and how we could wind up with a country full of geriatrics and no young working people, making enough tax to cope.

The article went on to describe some of the more dangerous items the older generation got up to as kids, such as swinging on a rubber tyre swing with no soft landing underneath, walking to school unaccompanied and they included a photo of a young lass eating strawberries straight from the garden! Now how  dangerous is that!

Modern "No Risk" sign

The author made me think of my childhood where Hygiene was another minefield. There was no "sell-by date" on anything or "best before" dates on food products and everything was eaten until every last morsel had been eaten. As we had no fridge, the remains of the Sunday roast (a weekly ritual as long as Dad wasn't away driving a train) were stored in a meat safe that had fine mesh and was built into the outside wall for fresh air. The meat that was left over became a source of further cooking ingenuity before finally ending up as rissoles or some other minced concoction

NOTE# We have a safe in our existing kitchen which will disappear in next months kitchen upgrade. Unfortunately the doors don't fit properly and  it let's in too much cold air to be of any use)

I can remember when we were given a small cool box that sat on the bench and had some sort of contraption at the top where ice was placed. This kept the interior cool until more ice was installed and I know that when we eventually secured our 1st fridge it was really a "marvel of the age". We certainly take too much for granted these days. Children just don't seem to get a chance to be children anymore and they don't learn how to react to dangerous situations when they do arise. 

Modern "Monkey Bar"

Our attitudes to one another have been turned upside down and there are too many examples of "Politically correct" examples where children are just not allowed to be free spirits as we were. When I was at Parnell primary school in the late 1940s and 50s we had a metal bar atop a couple of wooden uprights which we called a "monkey bar" and the idea was to hang onto this bar, usually upside down and work your way across it. It was just hard packed soil underneath, very muddy in Winter. We played tennis, football, cricket and our version of softball (a tennis ball on top of a rubber pipe that was fitted over a wicket) 

Tree Climbing fun!

 Everyone climbed the numerous trees that surrounded the school and while there were some falls and scrapes I don't remember anyone actually "hurting themselves" too much.

So if there are a larger number of old folk suddenly draining the economy, it just proves that a little danger didn't do anyone too much harm. I realise that the dangers of modern life are on a larger scale than my day, but if we keep cosseting our children too much the retirement age may have to drop rather than increase as they just won't have the same stamina as today's "Senior Citizens!"

Children can't learn responsibility if they are never allowed to have any, and yet we scratch our heads and wonder why children today are not as mature.

Pasted from <http://natureschild-natureboy.blogspot.co.nz/2012_02_01_archive.html>

# An article in another newspaper I read today tells of a woman who spotted a lady this week, walking through a local park with a baby strapped to her body in a baby sling. The baby was wearing a crash helmet! We're doomed!!

(I have an idea that the child may already have a head injury and needs continual support to save any further damage!)