Fred and anybody else, out there, ......

[Guest guest]

also,I was just wondering what it might have been like for others

that may have grown up either in the forties or fifties..and in

other places besides just in the United States?

But, if you all see this, and want to respond...that's fine!

P.S. any " special memories " from your childhoods, things that were

pretty cool, you know, pretty interesting for you....

the reason that I ask, is that my fiance' was telling a man at an

antique shop that we went to (and both of these men are in their

fifties...at least 12 years older than I) about candies that they

used to buy,and the slogans and ads, that as children that they used

to know about, and talk about...ya know the old household names, and

or games, radio shows, and gizmos and gadgets advertized for

kids,etc.

...I just wondered what other people's experiences have been where

you were brought up and more. I keep learning that even in different

states of America, it is so vastly different!! I grew up in Berkeley

California...or " Bezerkely,Calfornia. " Even that area, to me, is a'

changin'!!! But, just let me reassure you, not everybody from there,

is into the " Grateful Dead " I wasn't!

And, contrary to popular belief, not all of us Berkeleyans are

stoned out on drugs, or hangin' out on telegraph or some Berkeley

street smokin' weed or pot!!! Nor do we see famous people walkin'

down the streets, either...although, there are a lot of famous

people now, moving there!(or have been there, for years, hidden away)

I always encounter people that really, truly believe ALL of the hype

that they hear!! It's sooo sad! ;-)

[Guest guest]

Well, first off thank you very much NOT, for associating ME with the FORTIES

and fifties!!!!!!!! I owe you one:-)

I am a mere 61 years old, FAR to young to remember those days:-)

However, rather than site the materialistic differences between 'then and

now' (something one can read up on very easily) I would prefer to mention

some of the differences between 'then and now' which are related to

dwarfism.

I know it is a well worn cliché - " You younguns, yer don't know how well off

yer are today! Why, in MY day........ "

But the more I read on the lists, the more moans and groans I listen to, the

more people demand this and that, the more I realise it is true.

Way back then, there was not the knowledge about 'dwarfism' ( I use the

phrase broadly), as there is today, so parents were never warned not to do

this, not to do that. Therefore, 'we' were brought up exactly the same as

our siblings.

Compared to todays 'small statured children' we were chucked out into the

street, just as our siblings were, and allowed to do what the hell we liked!

We don't seem to have come to any harm.

There was not all this paper work (I.E.P's?) involved before 'we' started

school. All these education plans etc. We reached school starting age, we

were enrolled, we were pushed into the classroom and that was that!

How we EVER got an education beats me, considering what (according today's

dictates say) we SHOULD have had done for us.

Lowered toilets? You ARE joking?

Someone to go with me, help me pull down my trousers, AIM it for me, clean

me down etc??????? Wow, if only:-)))))

Stools at handbasins? They would have been nicked!

Assistants employed JUST to look after little me? Get lost!

Care in the school playing area? Do me a favour, I wanna enjoy myself!

Prevention from CLIMBING etc? Are you out of your tiny little mind???????

I taught for 22 years AFTER I got this terribly inferior and extremely

physically risky education:-))))) BUT, I was shocked recently to find out,

now, I could DEMAND all manner of consideration JUST to help me do that job!

INCLUDING an assistant IN the classroom to do the bits I couldn't do!!!!!!!!

I realise now I needn't do my own wall displays. Meaning, I need no longer

shove desks up against the wall, stand kids chairs on top of them, stand a

chair at the side of the desk, and then climb up the very risky set up, JUST

to pin stuff on a wall !!!!! Etc, etc, etc!!!!! I would have my very own

guardian angel to do half my job for me?

So my philosophy of demanding equality in my profession with my collegues,

in all and I mean ALL aspects of the job was wrong?

Indeed, I also find that IF I am accepted for college I can again, demand

all manner of help and assistance!

I wanna go back in time and revel in the consumate luxury of this new

life:-)

My mind boggles as to how the present day dwarf ever finds ANY employment

given that his/her prospective employer has to provide all this cotton wool

!

Oh yer, things are different alright. Ay lass, you younguns don't know how

lucky yer are:-)))))

Fred who fought the forties and fiftees and lives to tell the tale:-)))))

Fred and anybody else, out there, ......

also,I was just wondering what it might have been like for others

that may have grown up either in the forties or fifties..and in

other places besides just in the United States?

But, if you all see this, and want to respond...that's fine!

P.S. any " special memories " from your childhoods, things that were

pretty cool, you know, pretty interesting for you....