We were born to mothers who may have smoked,or drank when they were pregnant
They took aspirin,ate blue cheese dressing,ate tuna from the can,and weren't tested for diabetes
but we survived
Then after all that trauma,we were put to sleep on our tummies,in cribs painted with lead paint.
We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles,nor locks on doors.
When we rode our bikes we wore baseball caps--not helmets.
We rode in cars with no car seats ,no seat belts,no air bags,bald tires,and some times even no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pickup was a special treat
But we survived
We drank water from the garden hose(not from a sanitized bottle)
We shared a soda pop with two or three friends--no one got sick
We ate cup cakes,white bread,real butter,and bacon
We drank cool aid with real sugar--and we didn't gain weight!-Why?
Because we were always outside romping and playing,cowboys and indians,or jumping rope,or hide and seek
And we survived
We would go off and play all day,and as long as we were home before dark,no one worried.
We spent hours building go carts from scrap lumber,rode them down hills,only to find out that we forgot to add brakes.
But we survived
WE didn't have Play Stations,Nintendos or X Boxes,no video games,no ear phones,no TV,no cell phones,no computers,no internet and no chat rooms.
But we had lots of friends,and we went outside and found them.
WE fell out of trees,jumped off garage roofs got sprains and sometimes broken bones--and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We got spanked with belts,paddles,switches and even bare hands--but no one called child services to report abuse.
And we survived
We ate worms and mud pies,and the worms didn't (in spite of what we were told) live inside of us forever.
We were given bbguns on our 9th birthdays,and we didn't put out too many eyes ,when we played War.
But we survived
WE rode our bikes or walked to our friends house and either knocked on the door or just walked in and talked to them.
We had Little League tryouts,and not every boy made a team.Those who weren't selected had to learn to live with disappointment--Imagine that!!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.Our parents sided with the law.
But we survived
These generations produced some of the best problem solvers and inventors ever.
And the past 60 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas
Our generations had freedom,success,and responsibility,and we dealt with it all.
If you are one of those born between 1920 and 1950--Congratulations!!!
You might want to share this with others who had the good fortune to be kids before the do gooders and the government regulated so much of our lives.
While you are at it,show it to your grand kids and great grand kids,so they will know how brave and how lucky were their forebears
WE survived!!!
A quote from Jay Leno
"With all the hurricanes,fires out of control,mud slides,flooding,tornadoes tearing up the country from one end to the other,and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,
are you sure this is a good time to take GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance????"
and now we can add Covid19

The police officer pulled over a speeding car. The officer says, “I clocked you at 80 miles per hour, sir.”

BadBobby says, “Gee, officer, I had it on cruise control at 60; perhaps your radar gun needs calibrating.”

Not looking up from her knitting his wife says: “Now don’t be silly, dear — you know that this car doesn’t have cruise control.”

As the officer writes out the ticket, BB looks over at his wife and growls, “Can’t you please keep your mouth shut for once?!!”

His wife smiles demurely and says, “Well dear, you should be thankful your radar detector went off when it did or your speed would have been higher.”

As the officer makes out the second ticket for the illegal radar detector unit, BB glowers at his wife and says through clenched teeth, “Woman, can’t you keep your mouth shut?”

The officer frowns and says, “And I notice that you’re not wearing your seat belt, sir. That’s an automatic $75 fine.”

The Ol' Feller says, “Yeah, well, you see, officer, I had it on, but I took it off when you pulled me over so that I could get my license out of my back pocket.”

BB's wife says, “Now, dear, you know very well that you didn’t have your seat belt on. You never wear your seat belt when you’re driving.”

And as the police officer is writing out the third ticket, The Ancient One turns to his wife and barks, “WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP??”

The officer looks over at the woman and asks, “Does your husband always talk to you this way, Ma’am? ”

To which Mrs. BB replies, “Only when he’s been drinking.”

The young man walked into a Bass Pro Shop store, asked for the manager and when the manager came, he introduced himself and asked for a job as salesman. The manager took him to his office and after a short conversation and perusing the applicant’s resume said, “well, son, I can’t hire you because you have no sales experience.” To which the young man said, “Please give me a chance, I know I can do a good job for you and your store.”

The manager scratched his head, thought for a minute and said, ‘Well, we are short handed and the 4th of July weekend is bearing down on top of us, I tell you what I will do, I will hire you as a temporary employee. After this week, depending upon how well you have done in selling, we will then decide on whether you are a keeper.”

So, after about a half day orientation, store policy, how to handle the cash register, and a very quick run through the inventory, the young man was left to wait on customers. In the next hour, a man came in and our new salesman went to work.

After greeting the customer, asking him a few questions, the salesman and client walk over and select a few hooks, several corks, and then also an assortment of both top water and diving lures, and their very last Electric Mobile Worm. They then walk over and after some consideration selected a matching Shimano rod and reel, and while they continue shopping, and assistant loads the new reel with the best braided line.

From there, they select a Gillies hat, fishing shirt and pants, sunblock lotion, and sun glasses and since they are in the area, a fishing vest that would inflate automatically if the fisherman fell into the water accidentally, or he could pull the emergency cord. From there they walk out on the parking lot and after some discussion and inspection, select an 18-foot bass boat, outfitted with a boat trailer and a 150 horsepower Yamaha Outboard motor. Finally, back in the store, the young salesman helps the client fill out the necessary paperwork both to title the boat, trailer, and to get a fishing license.

When the cash register finished its calculations the total debit card amount was $98,372.50 and sales tax of $8,115.60. As the happy customer drove away with his purchases all piled into his Cadillac Escalade, the manager ran over and said, “Wow, that was some sale, what did he come is to buy?”

The new salesman said, “Well, he came to buy a box of Kotex and just look around, and I said, well, looks like your weekend is shot!” “Why don’t you go fishing?” Suggestion or Associated Selling demonstrated. Just Sayin…RJS

I have been fishing for over 50 years and never had a need for anything more than Shakespeare's 6'6" medium, 7' medium heavy or 8' heavy action for both salt and fresh water. My biggest fish was a 124 pound hammer head shark and the 8' held like a champ you can buy the 8 footer Shakespeare combo or ugly stick at walmart for 39.95. I have some walmart combos that are over 20 years old and still kicking. You do not need expensive equipment to catch fish, the only reason you need expensive equipment is to brag about how much you payed for it even do a lot of them can't catch any fish with their 200 or 300 dollar equipment. Good luck and keep on fishing.