Just dropped my jaw to knee height when I noticed 3 neighborhood kids equipped with their brand spanking new plastic olive drab helmets and (battery powered “rat-a-tat”) machine guns holding “maneuvers” in the yard.
Now, for anyone who grew up in the 50’s/early 60’s this was the sort of thing a lot of “guys” engaged in after school; Mom and Dad were more than willing to pay the price for these toys to inspire all sorts of ways that burned of excess energy. I loved protecting something from someone. I loved attacking something for some cause… and was beat tired in the end. Exactly as Mom and Dad intended.
What about the flags on cars, shirts, dresses, hats, tits, or anything else that can be embroidered, tatooed, painted? I can’t believe the variety.
We can now buy WAR BONDS (anyone know what the return is?).
Applications to Secret Service, CIA, etal are booming completely off the scale.
Applications to ROTC are up.
What other pre 9-11 stuff have you noticed? Or is it just me?
It’s not just you. I’ve seen similar stuff around here. It just proves what I’ve always believed: Every American is a patriot, you’ve just gotta wake 'im up, first.
~ How old were these kids? 16 or 17? If they were just
little kids then whats the problem…? I was always playing
war with the kids on the block… We had BB gun wars as long
as you didn’t pump the gun up too much.
Oh, yeah, we loved playing War or Pirates or Spies as kids. We had a big ole woods on our property to play in, and my dad built us a cool fort. Many were the spring and late summer afternoons spent making friends walk the plank or killing us some Yankees.
The best day of my childhood life was when my dad finally wore my mother down and my sister and I were allowed to have cap guns! Man, us Crazy Blackwood Girls just ran wild like little savages!
Was it because we grew up during the Cold War? Was it because my dad is a history buff and loved to see us learning stuff about pirates and the War Between the States and the OSS? I’m guessing a little of both.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with kids playing “war” or whatever, as long as they know it’s pretend; and yeah, I’d imagine that since the World Trade Center and the Pentagon got wrecked, we’re going to see more parents letting their kids play “soldier”.
It’s a natural reaction to the times.
These guys (and one girl) were perhaps 7-9 yrs old. I guess I was just surprised at seeing something that came rushing back from my childhood.
I remember my parents purchasing and telling about war bonds; well, here they are again. I think the whole of these and other signs more than a bit eerie. Not unnerving, just eerie. I’m semi-retired USN and have put in my bid to participate in the fight but for the moment my specialty isn’t needed. There’s toooo damned many kids trying to horn in on my job!