| The more derision with which a truth (or a lie?) is faced, the more hue and cry it encounters, the more distortions and misstatements it must endure, the more confidence we can have that it must be true. | |
| I'm thinking of one truth in particular: ignored, denied, but true nonetheless: "The Good Old Days." I realize there's no point even mentioning the phrase today; if you do, they'll laugh in your face. But the fact remains: things really were better when our (your!) generation was growing up. Which of us can deny it? Books were better, movies were better, crime was lower, and life was altogether more enjoyable. (Aside from WWII.) | You're thinking of one truth? I'll give you a hundred truths you've ignored. Your children have gone - you thought you knew how to love us, but you didn't. Every word of encouragement you spoke to us came twisted through a sneer of superiority. That hairpiece you wear, the one whose roots stretch right down into your ego: people see it from a mile away. |
| I can remember my seventh birthday. For my birthday present, one of my uncles in Queens took me for a ride in his automobile. It was the greatest joy I had ever known. I had never even touched a car before, and now I was going to sit inside one! My parents made me promise to keep my hands folded in my lap, but once my uncle and I were away from the house, he sat me on his lap and let me blow the horn. The windows were open, and the wind was blowing all around us. For the first time in my life, I felt completely free. | And nothing you can say will ever bring mom back. |
| How, I ask you, can we return to those beautiful days, now that modern ignorance scoffs at everyday marvels? How can this country, this people, return to its youth? | How? Not by collecting vintage Fords, Dad. Think of someone else for a change. |