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| Joe Bakewell. |
DEJA VUE.
Most of us
are living in some form of social isolation, and I’m struggling to adjust my
thinking and emotions to this new way of living. Or, is it new?
For many
years, it’s been my practice to write; to force my thinking into words when
trying to work through an issue.
I have clear
memories of WW2; how it started; what it felt like, and how it ended. There are
similarities to our current problems.
When it
started there was fear, and even some panic on the west coast. As it turned
out, the Japanese did not have the capability to follow up Pearl Harbor with an
invasion, but that did not stop us from interning loyal Japanese-Americans, and
building gun emplacements on the west coast.
The fear
dissipated, and we found ways to deal with the German submarines off our east
coast. We were into the war: air raid drills, rationing and writing to service
men. I did; I wrote to men from Coytesville. I was surprised and delighted when
they wrote back. After the war, I was invited to several homecoming parties.
It was the
time in between that comes back to me now. A sense of life suspended. Many
small businesses were closed; a sign in the window, “Closed for the Duration”.
School, movies, sports went on as before; albeit without the star players. I
followed the war on maps provided by my Uncle Bert, who worked for CBS News in
NYC.
.
I can’t
recall how long it took—a year? before we knew that we were winning; from that
point on everyone focused on what it would be like after the war. Some of the
wonders that we’d seen at the World’s Fair (i.e. TV) would be available.
When will we
reach that point in our current crisis?
There was a
time, not that long ago, when writers would interrupt a narrative to directly
address their readers. “Dear and gentle reader etc.” My readers are dear but
not gentle so I will not venture a guess on an answer to the previous question.
Joe Bakewell.
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