[Fredkc]

Brinty, I basically "arrived with television", but my brothers and sisters went thru the last depression as kids. Your post made me think of several things, but...

Remember being told "If you ever get lost, go find a cop." ??

The notion gives me chills nowadays.

One saturday morning, about 28 years ago, while we slept in (7:30) Our two daughters, 5 and 3 1/2 decided they'd "go get some ice cream" and "Oh, lets not wake mom and dad".

So, 7:30 AM comes a knock at the door, and it's the cops with both of our daughters. The one cop says with a smile, "Have you got any ice cream? I've got a couple of hungry kids here."

Today, there'd be cop cars on the lawn, TV cameras in the driveway, wife and I hauled off in handcuffs, and we probably wouldn't see our kids for two years. And all that is assuming they were "lucky" enough t find a cop.

In the small clump of houses that was "our neighborhood" growing up, you could count on at least 6 pairs eyes on all the kids outside playing. It's just flat amazing the diff things fear can kill.

Wife and I still try to live that old kinda life. Die hards, I guess.

Peace,
Fred