My wife and I are not part of this 1% group, having been born in the mid-50's. Our parents were born in the mid-30's, so even they have no real memories of the depression, or its after effects. But, I do think we grew up in a terrific time period. In our youth:
You did your playing outside. If you were inside the house during non-school hours, it was because you were being punished.
All of our friends were real people who you interacted with on a regular basis, not a group of avatars on a phone who you rarely, if ever, see in person.
We ate our meals with our family, cooked by mom, and talked about everything under the sun. Eating out was a rare treat.
We learned how to fix things, and be self sufficient. We were taught early on to accept responsibility for your actions...this really wasn't an option.
We respected our parents and our elders.
We were taught the value of earning our own money, and you didn't buy something until you had saved up for it.
Discipline for wrongful actions was swift and certain. I might screw up again, but I sure as heck am not going to do that again.
There are, of course, many more things that could be added to this list. Obviously, I feel we grew up in some of the best of times.
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