‘Be like Tony and be ready for that atomic bomb at any moment’!
Paul and Patty know what to do when the atomic bomb goes off, do you?
I remember singing and practicing, duck and cover, in Hancock School in Brockton, MA, as a young boy.
I admit I find myself feeling a bit ‘tongue in cheek’ as I review this public domain video and historical look at technology. I am tempted to wander off into musings about part of the reason I am wound so tight as a human being is because I spent the first six years of school preparing for nuclear fallout. Ok, I did get the video telephones I was promised when I went to see ’2001 a space odyssey’ with a gang of boys from my neighborhood. I did see a man walk on the moon and I did get to see the Boston Red Sox win a world series, something my Grandfather never saw in a whole lifetime of being a fan.
Why does Duck and Cover grab me so hard? I suppose because like many things in my youth it was something that kept me from the truth. Things like Christmas, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were important parts of a world that were just as untrue as crawling under my desk and pulling my shirt up quickly over my neck would save my life. I remember riding my bicycle around in my neighborhood at 13 years old and wondering what it would be like being in Vietnam. It had been on the television every night that I could remember as we sat around after dinner as a family. I remember seeing the world hold it’s breath while missiles were being halted from going to Cuba.
My life has seen 11 Presidents, 6 Democrats, 5 Republicans, 1 a Nobel Prize Winner, 1 resigned, 1 murdered along with a brother who would possibly have been the greatest President at the right possible moment in history, 2 have slept in my family home though most would not believe it should I tell the story. I suppose I must have learned a thing or two in that time. I also remember, that everyone I know that is my age can say the same for the most part and probably have more interesting stories to tell than I do.
I hope you enjoy this look at what we all laughed about and practiced in the school yard, but always wondered about when we really looked at each other. I look forward to your comments and thoughts.
About the Author:Read more about Bob Cristello here
