photo #2203944

Stayin' out of the heat yesterday, watching "Little House" and found myself tearing up. Got to wondering why. Did I just miss the simpler times, when things made sense, or is my age progression getting worse? The obvious answer was perhaps a little of both. THAT brought me to the question of why. How did things digress to this level, and why didn't we see it coming? Just random thoughts, but when we were kids, we were dreamers. Before drugs to stifle our imaginations, we dreamed of becoming/doing great things when we grew up. In retrospect, I distinctly remember being told to stop daydreaming and concentrate on the blackboard. When I watched cars passing by instead of fixating on the teacher, I was told those cars would pass but I wouldn't. Yet, I did. In my senior year, I was taking Math Analysis, Advanced Physics, NJROTC as Ensign in charge of the Color Guard, and was on our school debate and wrestling teams. Had my own car, too, that I'd rebuilt and paid for myself. When we were growing up, there were plenty of apathetic and lethargic lemmings who were quick to point out we couldn't do what our dreams came up with. Since misery loves company, like crabs in a bucket, they'd try and keep us with them so they wouldn't have to admit who/what they were. When I joined the Navy, I became a Precision Approach Radar technician, repairing/calibrating a radar system that would lock onto aircraft two miles out and land the plane on the #2 wire while the pilot was reading a comic book. I was responsible for getting our radar Cat one certified for the first time in two years after I found a ding in the waveguide on the backside of the island from a previous crash after being aboard for three weeks. Yardbirds couldn't find it, I invented a way to track it down using a TDR and got a BennieSugs cash award from the Navy. I'm not saying this to brag, only relate a part of my story. You see, I didn't listen to the lemmings and naysayers. Perhaps it's time to stop drugging down innovators and people who could become the leaders of our society instead of forcing everybody to be the same. The former, to me, would qualify as the definition of insanity. That's the direction we seem to be heading. What's YOUR dream today? GO for it !