When I was more interested in history I thought the current times were too “dull”. Wars were minor things, crises never led to anything, and most of life in the US was predictable and dull. It was not like it was during our big wars, real crises, pandemics, or “historical times”. It was even less interesting than when I was born in the later years of Vietnam. 9/11 was really a one day affair as far as things really going on. The rest was cleaning up and fighting a war that a tiny portion of the population was involved in. There were some racial tensions in “other places” for a few days.
Then along came COVID-19 and buddy it got real. Shortages at the stores, people dying in droves, riots everywhere, politics like a razor’s edge, and suddenly there was no place to go. I cringed when I heard the words, “These are historical times.” So after a year of barely seeing my family my twin and one of his daughters was visiting. In spite of a growing revulsion with history I wanted her to have a path to the future so when I heard she was interested in history I bought her a huge book on the subject. Then something surprised me. She was putting together a shoe rack. For the first time I saw her with a talent. Then some family members started discussing politics and my stomach revulsed. What had I done? Even if you worry about a girl making it putting things together you’ve got to admit it’s a good talent to have. So I wasn’t upset when she wasn’t too interested in the book. Historical times are overrated.
IDK. Your age might play a part in how you judge(d) things. Your perspective of life and how the world is, changes as you age.
Your memory of events can change with time too.
Hell, I was born in 1961 during Kennedy’s term in office. The Cuban middle crisis is about the closest we came to a nuclear war.
I don’t remember much about the sixties. I was a little kid with a buzz cut playing football or baseball or climbing trees. It seemed like peaceful times to me. When my family moved from L. A. Up to the Bay Area in 1969 we stayed with friends on Market Street, pretty close to Haight-Ashbury. Our friends were hippies and smoked pot with my parents (I learned twenty years later!). I see my childhood as a peaceful time but the sixties were a turbulent time. You mentioned the Vietnam War. I remember nothing about the Vietnam War. But during that decade Kennedy was assassinated, the hippies and flower power and drugs changed the world. And who can forget the civil rights movement.
It wasn’t until I grew up that my dad told me how exciting and fun the sixties were.
Anyways, as I grew up and got interested in the world around me, I saw the crisis’s. I mean someone might diss the seventies as boring or uneventful but stuff like the Iran/Contra affair were pretty darn serious. I mean that event could have toppled a Reagan’s presidency. I mean Reagan came pretty close to being assassinated.
Even the most peaceful times had crisis’s and people dying from war and all kinds of weird stuff going on. I mean look at Jim Jones.
But good for your niece. It’s handy to have someone around who can fix things and good for her confidence.
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