12/6/09
Pinoy Baby Boomers to Gen Y, Unite!
Sunday, August 10, 2008This is another of the e-mails that I received, which sure brought back memories that were otherwise forgotten. This is my life, and I’m PROUD!
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1950’s, 60′ s, 70’s and early 80’s !!
First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne and drank San Miguel Beer while they carried us.
While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, ate isaw, and didn’t worry about diabetes.
Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, pati na yung walker natin, matigas na kahoy din at wala pang gulong.
We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin lang), and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads , sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.
As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats (yung JD bus na pula), or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts (ngayon lahat may aircon na)
Riding on the back of a carabao on a breezy summer day was considered a treat. (ngayon hindi na nakakakita ng kalabaw ang mga bata)
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle purchased from 711 ( minsan straight from the faucet or poso)
We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis.
We ate rice with star margarine, drank raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank sofdrinks with real sugar in it (hindi diet coke), but we weren’t sick or overweight kasi nga……
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the streetlights came on. Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso , habulan at taguan.
No one was able to reach us all day ( di uso ang cellphone , walang beepers ) . And yes, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys (yung bearing ang gulong) or plywood slides out of scraps and then ride down the street, only to find out we forgot the brakes! After hitting the sidewalk or falling into a canal (seweage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem ourselves with our bare & dirty hands.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD’s, no cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters……. …WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo….ang sasabihin sa iyo..beh buti nga !
We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and ate dirty ice cream & fish balls. we were not afraid of getting germs in our stomachs.
We had to live with homemade guns ” gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puwedeng makasakitan..pero masaya pa rin ang lahat.
We made up games with sticks (syatong), and cans (tumbang preso) and although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman tayong binulag o napatay. paminsan minsan may nabubukulan lang.
We walked, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!
Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wala yang mga childhood depression at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan. Ang pikon, talo.
Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang mga bata, hindi para makialam at makipag-away sa ibang parents.
That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO’s, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes the hard way.
You might want to share this with others who’ve had the luck to grow up as real kids. We were lucky indeed.
And if you like, forward it to your kids too, so they will know how brave their parents were.
It kind of makes you wanna go out and climb a tree, doesn’t it?!
PS - The big letters are because your eyes may not be able to read this if they were typed any smaller (at your age).
Previous Comments
This is sooo nice. i couldn’t agree more =)
Posted by enya at August 12, 2008, 12:54 amit was like walking in memory lane…
i actually am imagining the magics of my childhood.i grew up in a neighborhood where we have had access to creeks, carabaos, dirt, muds, forest, hills, corn fields, rice puddies (province) and played teks, holen, lastiko (rubberband), pog, and i had lots of them from my winnings. but now these can no longer be enjoyed by the kids in my home barangay since most of these places to play are no loger accesible. they are now fenced or walled. houses are now built on grounds where we used to make race tracks for our bmx. i only can imagine how happy my children would be if they can still experience my childhood. when i go out to look for spiders with my flashlight and nurse them with ampalaya leaves to make them strong in the morning to either sell them to chinese kids or have them fight with other kid’s…
oh childhood memory lane, i had lots of them and they are all nature-ral…
how i wish we can still do something to have our kids at least experience how it is to be really a child and be free.
@carol stanley:
hi carol i’m glad you came to visit the site. I am very happy that I got to experience what other would consider as old skool if not “neanderthal.” Our childhood greatly affects our character as adults and I would not have preferred living mine in any other way.
@ enya,
glad you liked it? which generation do you fall under?
Posted by TBB at August 29, 2008, 8:59 pm@ sherwin:
this article just gives me the natural high everytime i read it. I don’t know if it’s a good thing but there still are children who were given the opportunity to live part of the memories that once had.
I’ve been to my mom’s province and in that place the children they still got enough energy to play stikyo (agawan base) and taguan (hide-and-seek) right under the moon. This is an especially nice thought, considering that the same children walk around 4 hours one-way just to get to school, study, another 4-hour walk on the way back, do household chores then they take care of their little siblings. And they do this every single day, for the next few years of their lives.
I cannot say “ok lang yan, at least nakakapag patintero naman kayo sa gabi” but I got to admire them for being brave enough to face this everytime they wake up. I pray that like us, they would be able to live the real life without being subjected to these kinds of hardships so early in life.
Posted by TBB at August 29, 2008, 9:28 pmahhhh…..good ol times…goooood ollldd times!!
makes me wanna go back to those simple but happy days! i dont even have to have money to enjoy myself in those days. hayzzz…..somehow this makes me sad.
good one… although i was born 1989 i had to relate to this one with the experience of growing up in the province and stuff… yah these stuff still exists out there… ^_^
Posted by Blade58 at September 16, 2008, 12:26 am@enya:
glad you liked it!! (not “?”, sorry..) what generation do you fall under?
@mon:
you know, sometimes, i wish that i go return to the time when my world revolves only around my parents and all the problems in the world can be solved with a lollipop.
@Blade58:
i think that’s good. how did you enjoy your childhood?
life’s so simple way back.
Posted by ylai at September 22, 2008, 10:31 amahh..good ol’ days…sigh
Posted by bitterbastard at September 23, 2008, 9:09 pmI was able to experience the province life like during the 80’s…..I remember taking a bath in my neighbor’s house and we were 5 in the banyo located at the backyard, we were sharing the Prell shampoo that we purchased in the nearby store beause it was so popular then……During the afternoon we used to play outside our house and eat chicharon w/ suka as our dip…….Our favorite merienda was snowball…..Hayyy take me there again….
Posted by Paquita at September 26, 2008, 12:33 pmNostalgic, hmmm I missed my childhood days Paquita.
As of this day, I always dreamt of my high school days, there I was happily talking to my buddies,studying…I don’t know why.
One of my favorite hideaway is the “galo” specially after the typhoon..I was picking up the fruits,catching bird..they can’t fly high because they are soaking wet..he he he.
Feel what I felt, when the rain drops all over your innocent body, when your problem is how to go back to your home after staying for hours in the woods…
Fishing in the river during rainy days. Visiting our farm and wickedly play the farm worms,spiders,grasshoppers and butterfly.
Please bring me to my haven again.hayys.
@Paquita:
I needed to google what prell shampoo was haha!
Posted by bitterbastard at September 28, 2008, 9:47 pm@ HORNET:
the rain drops all over your err innocent body..uhh, good description. uh err i can uhm, visualize. hehe
from which place do you hail from?
Posted by bitterbastard at September 28, 2008, 9:49 pmahmm tbb, I am with Starzan with Chitah-e..he he he.
I am a charming yokel, the simplest lifestyle I ever had. No complications, no expectations.
Maybe, just maybe…i’m indeed a nature lover.
Haven’t you experienced living at the countryside?
Feeling good.
Posted by HORNET at September 29, 2008, 12:43 pmPrell shampoo is used to be endorsed by no other than Ms. Alma Moreno nyahahahahha……I even wanted to copy her hairstyle then…..
Posted by Paquita at September 29, 2008, 12:44 pm@HORNET:
i lived all my life in the city but i must say that i did experience a lot of the things said here
@Paquita:
kewl.
It’s obvious that TBB belongs to a younger generation hehehehehe……Anyway, my childhood was the best days of my life……
Posted by Paquita at September 30, 2008, 12:49 pmi think i did say that i’m 25. 
Oh yeah, It slipped my mind..Must have been a senior moment, heheheh……Anyway, being years ahead from you. Hope that you are able to enjoy your life as much as I did……Forget the past that made tou bitter….”Learn to accept your defeat with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child”….D na orig ‘to hhehehehe……..
Posted by Paquita at October 2, 2008, 12:34 pmi enjoy being bitter. i make good blog entries when i’m bitter haha
Posted by TBB at October 2, 2008, 10:37 pmyou’re not bitter but emotional, you are doing good writtings because you feel inspired when your heart is bleeding/painful..agghh..what a style..it’s yours anyway.
Write some more. Being 65 needs a younger view in life. It feels me young.
Posted by HORNET at October 3, 2008, 12:38 pmhmmm my friends say that i think like i’m belong to the 60’s.
Posted by TBB at October 3, 2008, 4:56 pmIt’s nice to hear young people’s point of view about life….When I was younger I’m more inspired to write when I feel depress……That’s why I have a compilation of poems, essays full of angst…….After College when I became happy w/ work and family my passion to write about sad things has dwindled……
Posted by Paquita at October 4, 2008, 12:18 pmthat’s awesome! can you email me your pieces? i’d love to read ‘em.
send it (only if you want to) to:
thebitterbastard@gmail.com
Sure but I have to find them first……
Posted by Paquita at October 7, 2008, 12:21 pm(another email i received…)
Naa-alala mo ba?
Si Nanay ay nasa bahay pag-uwi namin galing sa paaralan;
Walang mga bakod at gate ang magkakapit-bahay, kung meron, gumamela lang;
10 sentimos o diyes lang ang baon: singko sa umaga, singko sa
hapon;
Merong free ang mga patpat ng ice drop:
buko man o munggo;
Pakikinig ng drama sa radio, tulad ng Simatar, Kapitan Radam, mga liham kay tiya Delly… at sa gabi naman ang Gabi ng Lagim;
Tinatakpan ang iyong tenga kapag naririnig mo ang alulong ng aso?;
… Naa-alala mo pa ba?
Mataas ang paggalang sa mga guro at ang tawag sa kanila ay Maestro;
Di binibili ang tubig, at pwedeng maki-inom sa di mo kakilala;
Malaking bagay na ang pumunta sa ilog para mag-picnic, o kaya sa tumana
Grabe na ang kaso pag napatawag ka sa principal’s office, o kaya
malaking kahihiyan kapag bagsak ka sa exams.
Simple lang ang pangarap:
ang makatapos, makapag-asawa, mapagtapos ang mga anak…
Pwedeng iwan ang sasakyan at ibilin sa hindi mo kakilala; wala namang lock ang mga jeep na Willy’s noon.
Mayroon kaming mga laruan na gawa namin at hindi binili: trak-trakan
(gawa sa rosebowl ang katawan at darigold na maliit ang mga gulong),
’sketeng’
(scooter) na bearing na maingay ang mga gulong at de-sinkong pako para
sa preno; patining na pinitpit na tansan lang na may 2 butas sa gitna
para suotan ng sinulid (pwede pang makipag-lagutan) ;
Sumpak, pilatok, boca-boca, borador, atbp.
Di nakikialam ang mga matanda sa mga laro ng mga bata: kasi laro nga iyon.
Maraming usong laro at maraming kasali:
laste, gagamba, turumpo, tatsing ng lata, pera namin ay kaha ng Philip Morris, Malboro, Champion (kahon-kahon yon!);
May
dagta ang dulo ng tinting na hawak mo para makahuli tutubi, nandadakma
ka ng palakang tetot, pero ingat ka sa palakang saging dahil sa kulugo;
Butas na ang sakong ng Spartan mong tsinelas - suot mo pa rin;
Namumugalgal ang pundiya ng kansolsilyo mo kasi nakasalampak ka sa lupa.
Sa modernong buhay at sa lahat ng kasaganaan sa high technology.. di ba minsan nangarap ka na rin… mas masaya noong araw!
Sana pwedeng maibalik…
Takot tayo ngayon sa buhay kasi maraming napapatay, nakikidnap,
maraming addict at masasamang loob…
Noon
takot lang tayo sa ating mga magulang at mga lolo at lola. Pero ngayon,
alam na natin na mahal pala nila tayo kayat ayaw tayong
mapahamak o mapariwara.. Nauna silang nasasaktan pag pinapalo nila tayo…
Balik tayo sa nakaraan kahit saglit…
Bago magkaroon ng internet, computer, at cellphone. Noong wala pang mga drugs at malls. Bago pa nauso ang counter strike
at mga Game Boy.
Tinutukoy ko ang harang taga o tumbang preso kapag maliwanag ang buwan;
Ang pagtatakip mo ng mata pero nakasilip sa pagitan ng mga daliri pag nanonood ka ng nakakatakot sa ‘Mga Aninong Gumagalaw’;
Unahan tayong sumagot sa Multiplication Table na kabisado natin, kasi wala namang calculator;
Pag-akyat natin sa mga puno;
Pagkakabit ng kulambo, lundagan sa kama;
Pagtikwas o pagtitimba sa poso;
Pingga ang pang-igib ng lalake at may
dikin naman ang ulo ng babae;
Inaasbaran ng mga suberbiyo;
Nginig na tayo pag lumabas na ang yantok-mindoro o buntot-page;
Nai-sako ka rin ba?
O kaya naglagay ka ba ng karton sa pwet para hindi masakit ang tsinelas o sinturon?
…Pamimili ng bato sa bigas;
Tinda-tindahan na puro dahon naman;
Bahay-bahayan na puro kahon;
Naglako ka ba ng ice-candy o pandesal noong araw?
Karera sa takbuhan hanggang maubos ang hininga;
Pagtawa hanggang sumakit ang tiyan;
Meron pa bang himbabao, kulitis at pongapong?
O kaya ang lukaok, susuwi at espada?
Susmaryosep ang nadidinig mo pag nagpapaligo ng bata…
Estigo santo kapag nagmamano.
Mapagod sa kakalaro, minsan mapalo;
Matakot sa ‘berdugo’ at sa ‘kapre’;
Tuwang-tuwa kami pag tinalo ang tinale ni itay kasi may tinola!
Yung crush mo?
Pag recess: mamimili ka sa garapon ng tinapay -alembong, taeng-kabayo o biscocho?
Pwede ring ang sukli ay kending Vicks (meron pang libreng singsing) o kaya nougat o karamel;
Kung gusto mo naman - pakumbo o kaya kariba, mas masaya kung inuyat;
Puriko ang mantika, at mauling na ang mukha at ubos na ang hininga mo
sa ihip kasi mahirap magpa-rikit ng apoy.
Madami pa…
Masarap ang kamatis na piniga sa kamay at lumabas sa pagitan ng daliri para sa sawsawan;
Ang palutong pag isawsaw sa sukang may
siling labuyo;
Ang duhat kapag inalog sa asin; ang isa-sang isubo ang daliri kasi puno na ng kanin…
Halo-halo: yelo, asukal at gatas lang ang sahog;
Sakang ang lakad mo at nakasaya ka kasi bagong tuli ka;
O naghahanap ka ng chalk kasi tinagusan ang palda mo sa eskwelahan;
Lipstick mo ay papel de hapon;
Labaha ang gamit para sa white-side-wall na gupit;
Naglululon ka ng banig pagkagising;
Matigas na almirol ang mga punda at kumot;
Madumi ang manggas ng damit mo kasi doon ka pagpapahid ng sipon, diba? Pwede rin sa laylayan…
May mga program kapag Lunes sa paaralan;
May pakiling kang dala kung Biyernes kasi magi-isis ka ng desk.
Di ba masaya? Naalala mo pa ba?
Wala nang sasaya at gaganda pa sa panahon na yon… Masaya noon at
masaya pa rin tayo ngayon habang ina-alaala iyon…
Di ba noon… ang mga desisyon ay ginagawa sa awit na ’sino ba sa
dalawang ito? Ito ba o ito?’ Pag ayaw ang resulta di ulitin: ’sino ba sa
dalawang ito? Ito ba o ito?’…
Awit muna: ‘Penpen de Serapen, de kutsilyo, de almasen. How, how the
carabao batuten…’
Presidente ng klase ay ang pinakamagaling, hindi ang pinaka-mayaman;
Masaya na tayo basta sama-sama kahit hati-hati sa kokonti;
Nauubos ang oras natin sa pagku-kwentuhan, may oras tayo sa isat-isa;
Naaasar ka kapag marami kang sunog sa sungka, kapag buro ka sa
pitik-bulag o matagal ka ng taya sa holen;
Yung matatandang kapatid ang pinaka-ayaw natin pero sila ang
tinatawag natin pag napapa-trouble tayo;
Di natutulog si Inay, nagbabantay pag may trangkaso tayo;
Meron tayong skyflakes at Royal sa tabi at pahihigupin ng mainit na Royco.
Kung naaalaala mo ito…
nabuhay ka na sa KAPAYAPAAN!
Pustahan tayo nakangiti ka pa rin!
Kung naka-relate ka sa lahat ng nabanggit sa itaas, ibig sabihin lang niyan ay….
…MATANDA ka na!
Oo…nakangiti ako at lahat naalala ko. MATANDA na nga ako. lol.
But you know what I miss most? FIREFLIES. Marami nu’n dati, pero ngayon wala na ata.
I love this post. It made me reminisce about my childhood. Salamat. ^_^
Posted by Penny at September 23, 2009, 12:35 pm
Keep blogging. You have interesting posts. God bless
I have seen a lot of this before..and love it..It is amazing how much work parents have today. It was easy for my mother and me also..in many ways…
Posted by carol stanley at August 10, 2008, 9:26 pm