I was eight when I decided to distrust government.
Since I was not particularly precocious, distrust of government must have been something adults bred in kids in those days, the same way they bred healthy teeth in us.
Maybe my distrust came from an additive in the water. Or maybe it came from watching Duck and Cover in the school gymnasium.
There were troubles at the time with the Russians in Cuba, and our principal decided we should assemble each morning in the gym for an air-raid drill.
My elementary school was less than 10 miles from the Empire State Building, well-known from TV news as a target for the Russians' missiles.
As we watched Duck and Cover for maybe the tenth time one morning, my pal Mookie—a walking encyclopedia of esoterica—leaned over and said, "The movie's really stupid. It acts like you can hide, but when the bomb goes off, in six seconds we all turn into jelly."
I knew Mookie's data was always indisputable, and thus I learned to stop worrying, love the bomb, and distrust government.
Still do.
And you? What's your story?
