Three Youthful Misconceptions

( 1 )

As a young child, I thought that royalty spent whole days sitting on their thrones. Oh, and this is not an oblique reference to the toilet. I imagined them sitting on large ornate jewel-encrusted chairs dispensing orders, wisdom, and armies, while receiving important visitors, taxes, and the heads of traitors. The thrones - I suppose in the throne room or thronery - were surrounded by pools of gold and silver and precious stones, just like many of us are surrounded by piles of laundry and dust.

I recall being stunned at the sight of Prince Philip in a suit, just like my dad's. Well, no that is not entirely true: Philip's suit had a nice cut and a modest tie, unlike the graphic mayhem on my dad's tie and his regrettable experimentation with the leisure suit. By the way, let's abolish the monarchy. It's a useless anachronism.

( 2 )

When I was ten years old, I felt that we had reached the end of war. Sure, there were a few local battles, mostly in the developing world, but the major western powers seemed to have overcome their war lust. I honestly remember thinking that there would be no more veterans, that the last would die off, and then it would all be a distant memory. I wondered how difficult it would be to rally any kind of support for Remembrance Day with no one left to describe the horrors to us. As a child, Vietnam was behind me too. Boy, was I optimistic.

( 3 )

I thought that my parents had good taste in music.

Listening to: Pete Namlook & Peter Prochir - Possible Gardens

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