In my aging circles there are those who vividly remember the GREAT Depression.  That was the time of troubles when we were assured by a great President that all “we had to fear was fear itself”.  We have gotten past depressions and recessions, wars – big and little ones – and internal fighting called elections with this last as the poster child of what should NOT be.  Too long, too much money and too much lying.  So, since I have had a lot of experience trying not to fear fear itself, I have begun to study SCARE.  We are scared a lot and there are a lot of people out there who have specialized in spreading scare around.

I note the practice of some users of e-mail who never had an original idea of their own.  But, they love to receive and PASS ON e-mails of the worst kind, filled with more than innuendo and just plain lies from individuals who have a lot of time on their hands in scaring others.

We are not really scared this time.  We are merely cautious.  Our trip to the Far East was cancelled by Carol yesterday.  We were to do a lot of long distance flying and see Shanghai, China, South Viet Nam and Japan (I’m nor sure of the itinerary because I leave that up to my beloved).  There were the side trips from our cruise ship on exotic lands where I am sure we would see the same products for sale that we can get quite cheaply here in the shops of Aventura.  But, we were “concerned” about spending the kind of money whose size crept up and bit us in a sensitive spot.  I was not sure it was such a great idea during this time of fear about the economy and transition of government.  The talk with friends and reading newspaper accounts were scary and we had second thoughts and I concurred with Carol’s stated worry about not ever having the strength to do this trip in the future.

I believe we did the right thing.  I had doubts about the physical strains we would have to endure in such a trip.  I insisted on pushing Carol around in her wheel-chair and, of course, I would use my two canes.  That concern shouldn’t have been the deciding factor, though.  The troubled economic times did it.  Scare won out and we thought this was not the best time to spend resources that were in danger of being lost in the great collapse that seemed around the corner (see what scare can do?)

I fear I am still a child of the Great Depression.  I remember the grey times when people were out of work, the soup kitchens and the song, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”? I remember the Think Tanks that came up with Unemployment Compensation, Social Security, CCC, WPA and myriad other solutions. The scare tactics of today are the fears of yesterday. We should remember this and resist falling into the trap of doubting the future.  It is the day after tomorrow, after all.