Nobody Digs to China Anymore

This morning my sister emailed me about the wonderful weekend she spent with 3 of her grandchildren. Most of the time was spent at the beach and while they built castles and buried each other in the sand, my sister informed me that"Nobody digs tunnels to China anymore!" What? It's unheard of!!! What's happened to passing these activities, old adages and oral tales down to our grandchildren? How come my grandkids aren't scared if they don't finish their food? Don't they know that there are starving children in India and Biafra and the Sudan etc. ? Or does anyone say to their kids anymore "Don't masturbate or you'll go blind?" (That was a good one!) I think that that oral command is long gone, especially since our kids saw that none of their friends lost their sight! Even I didn't pass down to my daughter that if she touched a plant while she was menstruating, the plant would die! Or "not to go to the cemetary if she was pregnant", like I was told,or she'd lose the baby. I loved all those "bubbe mayses" when I was growing up. Of course I grew up afraid of everything because of these Old Wives Tales. Remember the admonition to your kids that if they went outside with wet hair they'd catch a cold? How about if they blew out ALL of their birthday candles their wish'd come true? What about the old tale that coffee stunts your growth? My parents had me petrified to drink it. And carrots? I ate them non- stop thinking I'd no longer have to wear glasses because my vision would improve. Who's afraid of swallowing a watermelon pit anymore? Has anyone grown a watermelon in their stomach in this latest generation? Have your kids stopped going to the doctor's because they eat an apple each day? Yet now that some of us are getting up in years do we dare not "knock on wood" if we hear of someone's good fortune? Will our grandkids knock on wood or will they dare to dare the evil spirits? I don't know about you but I'm going to make a wish tomorrow as I throw a coin into the fountain at the mall where I work. It can't hurt!