I just figured out that inorder to post on this User Forum, one must first log-in.  No one told me that. As a Bulldog, I just figured it out myself through trial and error.   I figured, darn it,  if Allen Johnson can post here, then, by God, I can post here!   I was so frustrated, but I stuck with it, and by-and-by something good came of it, and that's what I briefly want to talk about:  All The Bad Things That Never Happened to Me. 

For example, I didn't get killed in Vietnam.  I'm extremely thankful for those who did offer up "the last full measure of devotion" that we might be "the home of the free, because of the brave," but I'm glad I'm still alive.

I'm no less thankful that I was never killed in a car crash (nor truck, plane, or motorcycle crash).   Hurtling through the night at seventy-five miles an hour, half asleep behind the wheel, reaching out the window to wipe the blinding wet snow off my Beattle window, with truck lights coming the other direction down the middle of the highway!!!  Remember all those times you almost got killed, but wasn't? 

Also, I have always been relieved that the movie "1984" didn't really come to past.  "Big Brother" may be watching me, but it must be a pretty boring job. 

I'm super glad that I was never bitten by a werewolf or vampire, I was never stabbed by Jack Nicholson, or beaten up by Jerry Penny.  That's really amazing.  I was never put in prison, or convicted of murder.  As far as I know, I've only fathered two children, and those were wanted babies who are now raising their own babies.  Big Sigh -- missed that dart!

I didn't flunk out of anything, really.  I guess fear does work.  I've been kicked out of a few places, but was always glad to go.  I never fell overboard.  I didn't break any bones.  And I was never blown up by a nuclear bomb.  Pretty good for a Pasco kid who competed against the Richland Bombers, wouldn't you say.  Although, I remember with great embarrassment a Bomber wrestler who pinned me in about ten seconds. 

About 99% of all my nightmares have never come true.   I've never had cancer, but totally, I am with those who are now struggling with same.  Hate that stuff!  Oh, I've never been divorced, which I'm very proud of because "the juice has REALLY been worth the squeeze!"  Never been arrested, and how about this, in all my zillions of miles of  road travel in these United States I've never been stopped at a check point! 

Oh, and I've never been hungry, or run out of money, or lived on welfare.  It's amazing how few regrets I have.  Now, did all of this happen to me because  (1) I was just lucky, (2) I made good decisions,  (3) I had good nature and nurture, or (4)  statistically, I'm like most people who grew up in the Golden Age of America?   And the answer is (drum roll):  Number Four!! 

Yup.  It's been a pretty hard life to screw up, and so most of us have been just pretty average wonderful.  Of all the times in history we could have lived, in all the countries we could have lived in, in all the high schools we could have graduated from, we were so fortune to be counted among that Happy Band of Boring People called PHS Bulldogs.  It truly is amazing all the Bad Things that Never Happened to Us.  And for that, I'm truly thankful!  Yawn. 

Russ:  You have written a wonderful thought piece.  It made me wonder about all the bad things that didn't happen to me:

• As a conscientious objector, I did not have to go to war.  But I did help a developing nation through an alternate service.
• I did not have an unfaithful wife--nor was I unfaithful to her.  But I was faithful to respecting her.
• I was never addicted to booze, gambling, or drugs.  But I was addicted to learning.

All in all, as for you,  life has been good.  I suspect that America had something to do with it, but I'm also convinced that the same kind of "good fortune" can easily happen in other countries around the world.