Had received this interesting article from a friend, thought it worth a read...am sure you'll like it..

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids
in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s probably shouldn't have survived,
because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint
which was regularly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles or latches on doors or
cabinets, and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore
no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokeys' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding
in the front passenger seat - or the boot - was a treat. We drank water from
the garden hose and not from a bottle, and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding, and drank fizzy juice with sugar in
it, but were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We
shared one drink with four friends - from one bottle or can - and no one
actually died from it.

We would spend several hours building go-carts out of scraps, then go top
speed down the hill, only to find out we'd forgotten the brakes. After
running into a patch of stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve
the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back
before dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We didn't have Playstations or Xboxes - no video games at all. No 99
channels on TV, no videotape films, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no
personal computers, no DVDs, no internet chatrooms.

We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played French skipping
and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got
cut and broke bones, but there were no law suits.

We played Knock Down Ginger and were actually afraid of the owners catching
us. We walked to friends'
homes. We also, believe it or not, walked to school; we didn't rely on Mummy
or Daddy to drive us to school, as it was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of
seven and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us
out if we broke a law was unheard of they actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem-solvers
and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have seen an explosion of innovation
and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them. Congratulations! Pass this on to others who had the
luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and the government regulated our
lives for 'our own good'.

For those of you who aren't old enough, we thought you might like to read
about us.

And something else to put a smile on your face...
The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986. The Uptown
Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick
Astley, Bananarama, Neneh Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.

For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. AIDS has
existed since they were born.
CDs have existed since they were born. Michael Jackson has always been
white. To them, John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't
imagine how this fat guy could ever have been a god of dance.

They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from the
past ten years. They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never
have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazzard or the Famous Five.
They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will
never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we're getting old...
1) You understand what was written above and you smile.
2) You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.
3) Your friends are getting married/already married.
4) You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with
computers.
5) When you see children with mobile phones, you shake your head.