Today I saw an old public service announcement from the 80s, telling parents that from now on they would have to strap in their babies and small kids when going for a ride in their car. This implies that when my parents took me from the hospital back in the late 70s, they just threw little baby me in the back seat and hoped for the best. I also distinctly remember riding my bike around town with no helmet, no knee pads, no nothing. One day, my brother and I rode our bikes down a steep hill, and when my brother made a sudden stop, I crashed into the back of his bike and flew right over his head, landing on the hot asphalt.
Did I get injured? Yeah, I got some really nasty bruises. But I did what we all did back then (say it with me) – I walked it off. I just got back on my bike and we kept riding until it was time for dinner, and then my mom bandaged me up. We were really built differently, huh?