Thanks Kim!
Is it just me or is everyone chilled to the bone over the alleged nuclear test carried out by North Korea?
Most of us grew up in the shadow of the cold war. From the age of about 9 I would lie awake at night, listening for a nuclear air raid siren. I’m not kidding.
I had a teacher in grade 5, Karl Hennig, who probably gave his students a bit too much information…
I lived on the banks of the Margaret River and during one of our many classroom conversations about the impending nuclear disaster I asked Mr Hennig whether, if I heard a bomb heading for Margaret River (not an obvious target for disgruntled Russians I realise now…but I was nine ok????), whether I should get all my family to run with me down to the river and dive in? Would that help???
Obviously, he should have seen my question as a sign he was FREAKING ME OUT, but he pressed on. Mr Hennig told me that the river option would be more appropriate in the event of a neutron bomb…but unfortunately they weren’t quite perfected yet!
Subsequently I spent the next five years praying for the nuclear arms race to advance to the point that the neutron bomb would become available whoever was in charge at the Kremlin…
Every night of my teenage life I went to bed waiting for the nuclear air raid siren. Every night I formulated an evacuation plan. Lying awake in my bed at boarding school I was determined that when we got the half hour warning, I would make my way toward the city, better to die in the first blast than live through the day after. For a start, I was pretty sure acid rain would play havoc with my complexion…and who knew what a girl should pack for a nuclear winter!!!
But I was genuinely scared. For a ridiculously long time. And I never spoke to my parents about the prospect of nuclear war because bizarrely, I thought I was protecting them. I didn’t want them to be as worried as I was.
And maybe teenagers will always worry about something, nuclear war being the burden of the 80’s teen. And kids of today have got plenty to keep them awake a night too. So I guess I should be grateful to Kim Jong Il for one thing. He has reminded me to talk my kids about what is keeping them awake at night…
I might not be able to promise them world peace but I can guarantee one thing. While they’re in my care they should let me do the worrying. I’ve had much more practice…
Most of us grew up in the shadow of the cold war. From the age of about 9 I would lie awake at night, listening for a nuclear air raid siren. I’m not kidding.
I had a teacher in grade 5, Karl Hennig, who probably gave his students a bit too much information…
I lived on the banks of the Margaret River and during one of our many classroom conversations about the impending nuclear disaster I asked Mr Hennig whether, if I heard a bomb heading for Margaret River (not an obvious target for disgruntled Russians I realise now…but I was nine ok????), whether I should get all my family to run with me down to the river and dive in? Would that help???
Obviously, he should have seen my question as a sign he was FREAKING ME OUT, but he pressed on. Mr Hennig told me that the river option would be more appropriate in the event of a neutron bomb…but unfortunately they weren’t quite perfected yet!
Subsequently I spent the next five years praying for the nuclear arms race to advance to the point that the neutron bomb would become available whoever was in charge at the Kremlin…
Every night of my teenage life I went to bed waiting for the nuclear air raid siren. Every night I formulated an evacuation plan. Lying awake in my bed at boarding school I was determined that when we got the half hour warning, I would make my way toward the city, better to die in the first blast than live through the day after. For a start, I was pretty sure acid rain would play havoc with my complexion…and who knew what a girl should pack for a nuclear winter!!!
But I was genuinely scared. For a ridiculously long time. And I never spoke to my parents about the prospect of nuclear war because bizarrely, I thought I was protecting them. I didn’t want them to be as worried as I was.
And maybe teenagers will always worry about something, nuclear war being the burden of the 80’s teen. And kids of today have got plenty to keep them awake a night too. So I guess I should be grateful to Kim Jong Il for one thing. He has reminded me to talk my kids about what is keeping them awake at night…
I might not be able to promise them world peace but I can guarantee one thing. While they’re in my care they should let me do the worrying. I’ve had much more practice…
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