The PTA discussed exposure to sex and violence on TV while preparing us for a nuclear attack. Do you think child psychologists figured the drills somehow reassured us we had power? Help us decide that Jimmy - the future anarchist dangerously sitting next to a glass window should never be trusted to lead, protect, or defend people? We're back to the familiar question - better to be blissfully ignorant, or informed when you have no control?
Today, I don't know the answer to that question, Pat. Is it any wonder we grew up never really feeling safe in the world? Makes us easier to manipulate.
I grew up in a bubble. Whispered conversations between my parents when I entered the room. They lived through both WWs in Europe. The second one even more traumatic given they were adults and newly married living under the rain of bombs and bullets. They worked hard to keep my fears moored far from my childhood thoughts. But I still felt their tension. Worries.
I grew up less than 4 miles from an Air Force Base where B-52 bombers were stationed back in the 1960s. The Cuban missile crisis, though not a vivid memory any longer, still resonates with me because of the increased activity at the airbase that I remember. I do not think there was a fallout shelter on the market that would have saved us from being vaporized because we were so close to a strategic target.
Even if I survived in a fallout shelter during the war, I don't think I would want to live in the world that was left. My father flew those B-52's. It is such a beautiful world. I hope we don't destroy it completely.
Ditto. I will run toward the flash, not away from it, metaphorically speaking. I’ve told all my kids and other family members it will be a CSNY moment to “love the one you’re with” because no one will be able to reach family unless they live next door. I would like to be assured that the likes of Putin will also be incinerated immediately but mad men will probably survive a while. Quelle dommage.
I grew up within several miles ofLockheed Aircraft in Marietta, GA. Even with under-the-desk bomb drills and noontime air siren tests, I knew with certainty I would not survive a blast.
Wow. "We practiced dying the way other children practiced piano scales"
That lands hard.
Harder today!
The PTA discussed exposure to sex and violence on TV while preparing us for a nuclear attack. Do you think child psychologists figured the drills somehow reassured us we had power? Help us decide that Jimmy - the future anarchist dangerously sitting next to a glass window should never be trusted to lead, protect, or defend people? We're back to the familiar question - better to be blissfully ignorant, or informed when you have no control?
Today, I don't know the answer to that question, Pat. Is it any wonder we grew up never really feeling safe in the world? Makes us easier to manipulate.
I grew up in a bubble. Whispered conversations between my parents when I entered the room. They lived through both WWs in Europe. The second one even more traumatic given they were adults and newly married living under the rain of bombs and bullets. They worked hard to keep my fears moored far from my childhood thoughts. But I still felt their tension. Worries.
I imagine those fears are pretty close to the surface these days. I can't imagine how frightening that was for your parents.
I grew up less than 4 miles from an Air Force Base where B-52 bombers were stationed back in the 1960s. The Cuban missile crisis, though not a vivid memory any longer, still resonates with me because of the increased activity at the airbase that I remember. I do not think there was a fallout shelter on the market that would have saved us from being vaporized because we were so close to a strategic target.
Even if I survived in a fallout shelter during the war, I don't think I would want to live in the world that was left. My father flew those B-52's. It is such a beautiful world. I hope we don't destroy it completely.
Ditto. I will run toward the flash, not away from it, metaphorically speaking. I’ve told all my kids and other family members it will be a CSNY moment to “love the one you’re with” because no one will be able to reach family unless they live next door. I would like to be assured that the likes of Putin will also be incinerated immediately but mad men will probably survive a while. Quelle dommage.
Yes, a shame indeed. And an immense loss for the so much good that is in this world. Your comment brought tears to my eyes. We are of an era.
😢 🥲A tear and a smile. (Khalil Gibran)
I grew up within several miles ofLockheed Aircraft in Marietta, GA. Even with under-the-desk bomb drills and noontime air siren tests, I knew with certainty I would not survive a blast.
It's not the Norman Rockwell childhood they pretend we had. That is too much insight for a child. And here we are.