Sunday evening my son was watching a program on the Discovery channel listing the top ten ways humankind can be wiped off the face of the earth. I came in for the last few ways we are all going to die. Among them was death by meteor. A meteoroid wiped out the dinosaurs so why not us too. This was followed by a nuclear winter. The interesting thing was it was not some third world wacko the scientist saw as dangerous but the United States and Russia. I thought we were so over that. The next way we would meet our demise was through a pandemic outbreak of some sort made by either nature or some evil genius with a high school chemistry set and a thirst for revenge. The number one way for life on earth to be destroyed was by having to listen to Al Gore explain how global warming is going to kill us all. Personally, if global warming provides Arizona with some decent beachfront property, I am ok with loosing parts of California.
After calming my son down and explaining that I didn’t think any of these tings were very likely to happen in say the next few days and that he still needs to finish his home work, I started to think about all the ways the media has tried to scare us over the past few decades. If the food we eat tastes good, it causes cancer, hyperactive activity or obesity. Our electronic devices cause brain cancer or sterility or can induce seizure activity. The air we breathe and the water we drink can give us cancer. Killer germs are out there just waiting to infect us with some flesh-eating bacteria. And if the environment and our diets don’t kill us there is always the criminal element out their just waiting to get us when we least expect it.
I have therefore decided that the only safe course of action to follow is to turn off the computer and go back to bed. Crawl under the covers, making sure the blanket is not an electric one as that can pose a shock or burn hazard, and curl up in a fetal position. I will stay there until told that it is safe to come out again.
5 comments:
Don't stay curled up in a fetal position for too long. You might get blood clots in your legs and die. I'm just sayin'.
You're right now what do I do?
I remember when I was 11 seeing a book that was similar to the program you mentioned. It sent me into a deep depression for several months. I was finally placed on some kind of medication (this was in the early '70s) and "got over it". It really freaked me out. I'm only saying this because you might want to keep an eye on your son for awhile to make sure he doesn't suffer some of the same ill-effects!
Blessings--
Dana
Dana, I appreciate your concern. I have talked with my son and explained to him that shows lie that make it seem absolutely terrible because that is what makes it exciting. If they told the truth that there is a very small chance that any of these things will happen and if they did the consequences would not be as awful as the depicted no one would watch. I will keep my eye on hi though and if he seems more anxious then normal for a 12 year old I will make sure he gets any help he needs. thank you for bringing it to my attention.
"You're right now what do I do?"
Read more sci-fi; it makes you numb after you read all the things that could happen, but probably won't. By the time I was ten years old, I had read just about every cataclysm that could possibly happen, and had quit worrying about them. About that time Stranger In A Strange Land came out in paperback, and I then had social issues to ponder instead.
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