[albie]

In1962 I was 4. My Dad was about to go Vietnam for the 1st of 2 tours. In the 50’s he fought in Korea, in 1941 he was getting breakfast when the Japs invaded Pearl Harbor. My 11 year old sister took care of me for awhile because my Mother had a nervous breakdown. Neighbors pitched in to help us.

Nobody took anything from anybody. You did what you had to do.

[a6intruder]

I was a sophomore in high school in 1962. We didn't lock the house when we left to run errands. Didn't have to lock the car in the driveway at night. McDonalds would sell you a burger, fries and a coke for 45 cents. There were no reality shows on TV. Gay was a synonym for happy. I mowed lawns for 5 bucks a pop to earn date money and I had a paper route for 100 homes. You could understand the words to all the popular songs. I never saw anyone with a tattoo. There was no movie rating system. Everybody shopped at family owned businesses downtown. Soda pop bottles could be returned to the store for 2 cents each. I rode my bike all over town when my Dad was using the car. I know exactly where I was when Kennedy was shot. Gas waa 14 cents a gallon. My current girlfriend was Jewish. The next year, I stuffed envelopes for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign and there weren't any television attack ads.

Now, 50 years later, I'm not so sure I'm better off. After a 25 year career in the Navy and a 15 year second career as a defense contractor, I have retired. Not rich, but comfy. Raised 4 kids through college who are now raising their own families. I have 6 TV's in my house, 3 computers and a GPS in each if my cars. Over 200 channels on the cable box; only a dozen or so are worth sitting in front of. My local newspaper is 50 % advertising and tilts to the left. I'm on my fifth cell phone and only use about 5% of its functions. My annual taxes are roughly 8 times my father's 1962 annual salary.

If I could, I would go back to 1962 in a heartbeat.