Lord Noel Says Thanks For Being There

Whatto! Survivors.......

This is for all of those people who've survived.......

......from the mid 1900's to today

First, we survived being born to mothers who were allowed to smoke and drink whilst they were pregnant.......

....who didn't have maternity leave........

...because they didn't work anywhere other than at home......

...or if they did work....

...they usually kept working until the very last minute.

They also took aspirins, ate blue cheese dressing, eggs, enjoyed tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

They put us to sleep on our fronts in brightly coloured baby cots covered with lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, no locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had school caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no proper car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, and sometimes with bald tyres and very poor brakes.

I remember that a drive to London took us two whole days.....and we'd stop overnight halfway at Newmarket to 'Break up the journey'......

....and when it rained......

....the water would pour in through the edges of the fabric on the roof of our trendy Morris Minor traveller......with it's modern 'folding back roof'.

I remember taking a ride into town on the back of a passing lorry.............

.....and it was always a treat on a warm day........

....to know you could now afford to go to the cinema with the money you'd saved.

We drank water, not from bottles but from a garden hose.

And if we were lucky enough to have a fizzy drink.......

.....we shared it with four friends...........

....all drinking from the same bottle.......

....and nobody actually died from this.

We ate biscuits as a special treat (usually one at a time)..........

...... we were given white bread, real butter and fried bacon.

Fizzy drinks were made from real white sugar.

And yet, we weren't overweight..........

I wonder why?

Could it be.............

......because we were always outside playing?

We would always leave home in the morning........

...... and play all day.

As long as we were back home when the streetlights came on, no-one worried.

And even if they did.........

.....no-one was able to reach us all day.......

....we had few telephones........

....and even if they did have one....

...it would never be used except for emergencies....

And somehow, we were OKAY.

We wouldn't get bought everything we wanted.............

....so if we wanted something....

....we'd have to make it for ourselves......

.... spending hours building our go-carts out of scraps of wood and prams and then riding them down a hill......

...... only to find out we'd forgotten to fit any brakes.

But after running into the bushes a few times..........

....... we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have any of the following:

Computers (they looked like the one above which is now 50 years old)

Play stations

Nintendo's

X-boxes

Video games

Digital TV

There were no video movies or DVD's..........

......... no surround-sound, or hundreds of cable channels...........

......No CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

We had what we used to call........

....FRIENDS!

Not virtual friends.....but REAL ones.....

..... and we used to have to go OUTSIDE to find them.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth.........

....... and nobody got sued......

......these incidents..........were classed as.........

....... 'accidents'............

......and you took responsibility for having one.

We would get spanked with wooden spoons, sticks, slippers, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand..............

....at home and at school......

...... and no one would report this to Social Services as abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We went fishing with homemade rods..........

........and sometimes actually caught something.

We would make our own guns from elastic bands, clothes pegs and old match boxes........

..... and make up games with sticks and tennis balls.

We would make and fire our own handmade bows and arrows.....

....we even threw mud bombs and stones at each other......

....... and, although we were told it would happen......

....... we didn't put out very many eyes.

If we wanted to visit a friend........

.......we rode bikes or walked to a friend's house..........

....... and knocked on the door and walked in and 'talked' to them.

Football teams competed in our local parks.......

....and play went on for hours.

The best players were picked for the League........ and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn't had to learn to deal with a thing called 'disappointment'.

Imagine that.

The idea of a parent 'bailing us out' if we broke the law........

........ was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

And you could expect swift justice from them if you were caught doing something illegal by the Police.

But nonetheless.......

.......These generations have 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 if YOU are one of them........

....... CONGRATULATIONS!

Tallyho!

Best Wishes Lord Noel & Lady Jacqueline