We Made It

My brother posted this video the other day on his facebook and so much of it was true.  I was listening to the radio the other day and there was a guy on ESPN talking about bullying in youth sports by coaches and it made me laugh a little bit.

I remember when I was in Little League, my dad told the coach if I got out of line to go ahead and punish me.  Also, I remember complaining to my dad once that I had been taken out of the game and he said “well you were 0 for 3.  Get more hits next time.”

I also remember going to the park near our house and playing baseball or football with the neighbor kids.  Sometimes one of the kids would bring an older cousin and that would force some of us to go find someone older and bigger to be on our team.  It was actually kind of funny now that I think about it.

When it was time to come home, dad would come outside and whistle.  I swear he could whistle loud enough that you could hear him a few miles away.  Our neighbors mom would come out and usually yell for her sons to come home.

Were things better though?  I honestly do not know.  I guess time will tell when we see how the children of this generation grow up.  What if they lead us to colonies on Mars.  What if some kid who is coddled ends being the guy to cure cancer?  Will that generation look back and laugh at how barbaric we were?  Probably.

The generations of pioneers that came before probably thought those kids in the 1950s who were out playing stickball were ridiculous as well.  They were probably considered soft.  Someone probably said “back when I was a kid, we didn’t go to school!  We got up at sunrise, did our chores, then went out to hunt for our families next meal.  That was a normal day for a ten year old!  You damn kids nowadays get to go play with your balls and sticks, buncha pussies!  We had great men, like Edison, Watson, Bell!  What will your generation ever do?”

Author: Ngewo