This was sent

to me from my dear friends Don and Linda Oconner. Don is the owner and

CEO of "The Computer Doctor" in Rex, Ga. I love these people

for several reasons, most of all because they put up with me and my computer

problems. If you have a computer glitch, call Don at 770-960-0601.

"According

to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the

'40s, '50s, '60s, or even maybe the early '70s probably shouldn't have

survived. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.

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 children,

we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back

of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water

from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes,

bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never

overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft

drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from

this.

"We would

spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode 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 would leave home in the

morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights

came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable!

"We did

not have Play stations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no

99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell

phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We

went outside and found them.

"We played

dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out of

trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from

these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember

accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue

and learned to get over it. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls

and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put

out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.

"We rode

bikes or walked to a friend's home 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. Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed

a grade and were held