I'm scared.

I grew up scared.

In the early sixties, I grew up in Miami. My dad died when I was 6 years old. Mom was a single mom raising 3 kids.

People left Cuba. They moved into my neighborhood. This was first wave. Mostly professionals. Incredible humble, kind, giving people.

JFK gets elected. Seemed to be a time of hope. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. We will put a man on the moon." Cool.

Walter Cronkite. Believable credible news.

There were several things that really scared me.

1. Cuban missile crises. I'm doing civil defense drills in my elementary school.
(Golden Glades Elementary) Nukes are 90 miles from Key West. Missile batteries are being set up within a few miles of where I lived. Neighbors are digging holes in their back yards, concrete and bricks. Fuck me.

2. JFK gets assassinated. School is dismissed early. I'm walking home by myself crying.

3. Cronkite starts talking about Vietnam. Jimmy who lives on my block, a Fonzie greaser type (several years older than me), who I idolized, joins the Army. Comes home in a box. I went to his funeral. I was scared.

Kent State' a girl I knew from Opa-Locka was killed in the Nixon ordered massacre.

Cronkite is talking about Vietnam every night. I turn 16, he is still talking about it

There are race riots in my high school.

I moved to Cocoa Beach attending BCC and working at Alma's. I registered for selective service. (the draft). I get number 352. 2 of my very best friends are in the lower 10. They get called, but some pull a Big Wednesday and get out.

Several friends come back disabled.
Even though I have a high number, I get the call to report to Jacksonville for an interview. Long story. 4 months latter I'm back in Cocoa Beach.

4. Watergate: a US President is committing crimes to get elected. I am watching the hearings in the cafeteria at BCC. Fuck me.
Justice wins. My faith in the US has a renewal.

Reagan sucks, the bushes suck, but not as bad as I had previously experienced. So, I'm desensitized.

I'm scared today. Flight or fight. I am a keen student of history. The parrels of between today's US and Nazi Germany of the 30s and 40s are terrifying.

Where are the great protest songs:

Ohio
Unknown Solider
Volunteers of America.



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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.