P.S. READ THE POST- it's not the incident itself, it's the turning point from where everything changed from 
to Get it?... OP follows-
I mean, that's got to be it, right? That's why I can hardly relate at all to people even 5 or 6 years younger than me, at 28?
I thought about my time growing up to put things in perspective.
In third grade the Berlin Wall came down and people were happy. A little while later, the Soviet Union collapsed and people breathed easier. In fifth grade we watched the armed forces whoop the snot out of the Iraqis on CNN, it was no contest and people were only miffed that we had to stop without getting Saddam. No one was ever really scared.
The rest of the 90's were marked by cool, upbeat, pop-culture and economic prosperity. People were concerned with things like living longer, the graying baby boomers wanted more health care, and they wanted to know what to do with their boat loads of cash. You could quit a job and get another one that same day.
The OKC bombing in 95' left a bit of a bad taste, but the lone militia nut angle let people quickly dismiss it with humorous quips about survivalist types. Honestly, the whole Waco thing in 93' already primed us for a character like McVeigh and it was just as quickly forgotten.
It was a time with few threats and little to be afraid of, and it left my childhood happy and care free.
By the time everything started going to shit in 2001, I was 19 years old and was more or less an adult. So things registered to me as cause and effect, not so much as "Behold! Young one! This is the world, and my, my- is it not frightening!"
What I wonder is- what is it like to be a child, to grow up surrounded by so much fear, war, bleak economic prospects and so little hope? Did you see your parents change? Did they argue and fight about what was going around them? Did the kids at school still easily make light of the world erupting into war or did they try their damnedest to ignore it and live in it's shadow?
Just curious. I really think being young or adolescent around that time warped a fair number of folks.
to Get it?... OP follows-I mean, that's got to be it, right? That's why I can hardly relate at all to people even 5 or 6 years younger than me, at 28?
I thought about my time growing up to put things in perspective.
In third grade the Berlin Wall came down and people were happy. A little while later, the Soviet Union collapsed and people breathed easier. In fifth grade we watched the armed forces whoop the snot out of the Iraqis on CNN, it was no contest and people were only miffed that we had to stop without getting Saddam. No one was ever really scared.
The rest of the 90's were marked by cool, upbeat, pop-culture and economic prosperity. People were concerned with things like living longer, the graying baby boomers wanted more health care, and they wanted to know what to do with their boat loads of cash. You could quit a job and get another one that same day.
The OKC bombing in 95' left a bit of a bad taste, but the lone militia nut angle let people quickly dismiss it with humorous quips about survivalist types. Honestly, the whole Waco thing in 93' already primed us for a character like McVeigh and it was just as quickly forgotten.
It was a time with few threats and little to be afraid of, and it left my childhood happy and care free.
By the time everything started going to shit in 2001, I was 19 years old and was more or less an adult. So things registered to me as cause and effect, not so much as "Behold! Young one! This is the world, and my, my- is it not frightening!"
What I wonder is- what is it like to be a child, to grow up surrounded by so much fear, war, bleak economic prospects and so little hope? Did you see your parents change? Did they argue and fight about what was going around them? Did the kids at school still easily make light of the world erupting into war or did they try their damnedest to ignore it and live in it's shadow?
Just curious. I really think being young or adolescent around that time warped a fair number of folks.
