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In reply to the discussion: Who is old enough to remember the "under the desk" [View all]freshwest
(53,661 posts)138. I remember that, the dog tags we were given and the assignments as to who'd die at school or home.
I lived in range of the Cuban missiles and it was in our faces. We had the sirens and aircraft buzzed the school for more terror.
I wasn't afraid, I developed a certain sense of fatalism. It was guaranteed we'd be hit for strategic reasons.
Plus they educated us with everything nukes did to the people of Japan. They showed us how most of us would be incinerated.
Then long stories of the misery of the 'survivors.' We knew that even if we survived, our lives wouldn't be worth living anyway.
It was in elementary school. I didn't hate the Russians, the Cubans or any of them. But I realized some adults were going to get us all killed for nothing. Effing Idiots.
Nine Inch Nails - Right Where It Belongs
See the animal in his cage that you built
Are you sure what side you're on?
Better not look him too closely in the eye
Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?
See the safety of the life you have built
Everything where it belongs
Feel the hollowness inside of your heart
And it's all
Right where it belongs
(Chorus)
What if everything around you
Isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection
Is it all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks?
Would you find yourself
Find yourself afraid to see?
What if all the world's inside of your head
Just creations of your own?
Your devils and your gods
All the living and the dead
And you're really all alone?
You can live in this illusion
You can choose to believe
You keep looking but you can't find the woods
While you're hiding in the trees
(Chorus)
What if everything around you
Isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you used to know
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection
Is it all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks
Would you find yourself
Find yourself afraid to see?
And so it goes.
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
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Yup--I remember exactly that from a 1-room country school near Hayward, WI.
Jackpine Radical
Sep 2013
#163
Growing up near a military base, we were definitely going to kiss our tails good bye
bluemarkers
Sep 2013
#107
Ours was a BOMARC base. We knew it was just down the road, but it never was a big deal.
Thor_MN
Sep 2013
#113
They built a Nike Ajax launch site right behind the tennis courts at my High School.
leveymg
Sep 2013
#141
Conelrad! I remember that! IIRC it was a feature of our tsunami alerts on O'ahu.
Hekate
Sep 2013
#159
I remember watching News Reels at the Movies about the progress of the Korean War.
rhett o rick
Sep 2013
#26
New River, Corvallis, Norwalk High... Do you remember the Lakewood Sheriff's Air Raid Siren?
cherokeeprogressive
Sep 2013
#83
St. Paul ES, Foster Road ES, Benton JHS, and I woulda went to John Glenn, but we moved.
Iggo
Sep 2013
#102
Got that down in college chemistry. A sense of 'we're not quite here,' but damn, it's still great.
freshwest
Sep 2013
#142
Yup! Such good times! What ever happened to that wonderful world in which we all worried
struggle4progress
Sep 2013
#40
We were out in the hallway..(some schools have indoor hallways)..down on the floor, against the wall
Tikki
Sep 2013
#41
I remember when they were doing the tests and watching them from the schoolyard.
Tierra_y_Libertad
Sep 2013
#84
I remember. even at a young age, I thought it was incredibly stupid, and asked what we were
niyad
Sep 2013
#97
Not only that! I'm old enough to remember the first time they started doing drills
AAO
Sep 2013
#111
me! Army brat - raised on army bases, we were always having those things. "cover your neck"!
Liberal_in_LA
Sep 2013
#119
I remember that, the dog tags we were given and the assignments as to who'd die at school or home.
freshwest
Sep 2013
#138
Duck & Cover, Sputnik, Cuban missiles, assassinations, moon landing, U-2, VN War, Watergate...
pinboy3niner
Sep 2013
#153