CONGRATULATIONS to all those young people born before 1950.
Firstly, many will have lived through the Second World War, with five years of daily hazards.
Some were born to mothers who smoked and drank throughout pregnancy, then gave birth at home with a local midwife cycling round to help out.
Fathers in attendance? No way! We were then put in cots brightly painted with lead-based paint that we could suck off the bars.
As we toddled around there were no child-proof lids on medicine bottles, household chemicals, doors or cabinets.
If our parents were among the lucky few to own a car we had no child seats, safety belts or air-bags.
As kids we drank tap water, not from a bottle.
The only bottle shared with our mates contained sweet sugar fizzy 'pop'.
A quick wipe with your sleeve sufficed and no one died from this contamination.
A 'take away'was mum's sandwiches, or as a special treat, fish and chips wrapped in old newspaper.
How on earth did we survive without pizza parlours, McDonald's, KFC and other fast food?
Shops generally closed at 6pm, with many closed on Wednesday afternoon or a half day on Saturday. Never open on Sundays; no super-markets open 24 hours - so how come we did not starve to death?
Display by or sell by stickers were unheard of.
Look at it - sniff it - eat it.
In school holidays we would leave home in the morning and play out all day, only returning when hungry or the street lights came on.
No mobile phones or other contact, but we were fine.
We climbed trees, played conkers without protective goggles, fag cards and marbles.
We enjoyed ourselves on the concrete-based swings and slides in the local parks or investigated the many bomb sites and derelict houses.
It was almost obligatory to fall out of trees or return home with cuts and grazes, but without suing anyone for negligence or contracting sticky plaster allergy.
We got filthy dirty, yet ate our sandwiches without getting worms or the like.
No Playstations, Nintendo Wii, X Boxes, video games or the mind boggling selection of TV channels (who had a TV anyway?).
No personal computers, internet chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter or any other remote contact nonsense.
We had friends and went out to meet them and chat face to face.
From about 10 years of age we were given penknives, catapults and even air pistols for birthday presents.
We read comics with such horrifying characters as Dennis the Menace, currently updated to a nice little lad, to avoid influencing young minds.
Schools and sports teams actually held trials and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't learned to cope with the disappointment, a valuable experience for life itself.
School sports days were competitive and those who lost did not receive counselling or suffer an inferiority complex for the rest of their lives.
Teachers were smartly dressed and referred to as Sir or Miss.
Cheek or misbehaviour brought a whack with a plimsole (ancient trainer), or maybe your misdemeanour justified a visit to the head for the cane. The very idea of a parent bleating human rights was unheard of.
Far more likely that we got another whack at home if they heard about it. They actually agreed with discipline and law and order.
We were named Fred and Mary etc, not stupid inventions such as Blade, Vanilla, Honey, Brooklyn or wherever else conceived.
Heaven help the child whose parents enjoy a holiday in, say, Crinkley Bottom.
Above all, we enjoyed freedom, failure, responsibility and discipline, learning the hard way how to deal with each situation.
You, my friends, are one of that privileged generation who grew up before the greedy lawyer, government regulations, edicts from Brussels, human rights, health and safety, political correctness and all the other mad beaurocracy totally strangled our lives.
Congratulations on your survival in the face of such overwhelming odds.
ROY BARTLETT Ealing By email
