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Stinky The Clown

(67,669 posts)
94. I am not given to nightmares. For me, they're rare. Playhouse 90's Alas Babylon gave them to me . .
Thu Jul 7, 2022, 12:49 PM
Jul 2022

. . . for weeks. This was in the late 50s.

That story has stuck with me. It is about a nuclear war with the USSR that wipes out most of the world's population. One of the wiped out areas was where we lived.

While production values back then were not what they are today (think of a typical Twilight Zone episode) for a young person (me) it seemed very realistic. Given the times and the Cold War ethos, more than a realistic TV show, it was a real possibility and maybe even a likelihood.

THAT kept me up at night with worry.

What did you worry about as a kid? [View all] Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 OP
USSR and nuclear war... Some things haven't changed. hlthe2b Jul 2022 #1
Did you actually understand that ? For me it was Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #6
Just the emotional sense of fear when adults spoke about it... hlthe2b Jul 2022 #9
I was terrified. I kept a scrapbook moonscape Jul 2022 #42
Sonic boom from... 3catwoman3 Jul 2022 #48
Cool but no. This is more like a small plane dropping a bomb Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #54
The only nightmare I remember was about sirens going off and then the bright light and I woke up . Srkdqltr Jul 2022 #17
Same here. crickets Jul 2022 #28
I had a similar dream when I was young Ouroborosnek Jul 2022 #31
It sounds like a lot of us did. crickets Jul 2022 #34
Do you remember the sound of planes whistling Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #53
I do remember that sound, but only from movies. crickets Jul 2022 #84
I was convinced as a teen in the early seventies that the world had no future pecosbob Jul 2022 #72
Yes, especially after reading Pat Frank's "Alas, Babylon" csziggy Jul 2022 #92
Yes, I grew up 35 miles from Chicago and feared it as a nuclear target Model35mech Jul 2022 #98
Nuclear war, total destruction of the world. Ocelot II Jul 2022 #2
Getting Nuked. onecaliberal Jul 2022 #3
School bombings, getting pregnant, nuclear war uppityperson Jul 2022 #4
Whether I would again, today, get an ass beating from my father. Ferrets are Cool Jul 2022 #5
We were lucky...just him " touching the belt"was enough Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #10
No doubts here. It was because we were very poor. Ferrets are Cool Jul 2022 #80
Same here. llmart Jul 2022 #100
Monsters under the bed...when I was really young, the dark. PortTack Jul 2022 #7
Quicksand and shark attacks Arazi Jul 2022 #8
Do you remember what you would would have done? Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #12
Lol. I still have nightmares every so often about quicksand. chowder66 Jul 2022 #49
Came here to say quicksand! ok_cpu Jul 2022 #90
Quicksand phobias were from those goddamn Tarzan movies. Greybnk48 Jul 2022 #104
Martians Cartoonist Jul 2022 #11
Or just the fear/awe of what could be out there ? Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #14
We didn't have school shootings back then. nt Cartoonist Jul 2022 #86
I was a very small child. Mr.Bill Jul 2022 #13
Oh wow that must have been horrible to think about Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #22
It had it's upside. Mr.Bill Jul 2022 #25
Funny how parents were willing accomplices. That Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #58
We weren't rich. Mr.Bill Jul 2022 #61
I'm jealous. I was also the smallest kid but jg10003 Jul 2022 #73
Well, at age 69, Mr.Bill Jul 2022 #85
War NowISeetheLight Jul 2022 #15
Nada. Was born during WWll. Afterwards was a golden age, marybourg Jul 2022 #16
Nuclear war was far and away the #1 worry. TheBeam19 Jul 2022 #18
My mother dying. pnwmom Jul 2022 #19
So sorry. You had to worry about that pnwmom!!!! Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #26
Thanks. I was the typical oldest child in a lot of ways, pnwmom Jul 2022 #27
This message was self-deleted by its author Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #37
That is a very problematic thing for a parent to worry a child about. alphafemale Jul 2022 #65
surviving in the ice world brought about by nuclear winter eShirl Jul 2022 #20
Holy cow... You were SO much more aware and enlightened. Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #24
I worried about not getting caught by my parents. LakeArenal Jul 2022 #21
Have you figured out why you were so fearful? Of punishment? Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #33
The solar system hurtling towards the Hercules constellation Tom Kitten Jul 2022 #23
Oh, I loved those movies! crickets Jul 2022 #32
I loved Them too Tom Kitten Jul 2022 #101
I had a nightmare of a skinny pumpkin headed man. Ran to my parents. applegrove Jul 2022 #29
Do you like or hate pumpkins now.? Think it's interesting that Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #35
All I can think of was a piece of art my parents had in the den. It was a musician playing a guitar applegrove Jul 2022 #43
So interesting and funny! Can't imagine having a mom Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #45
She was a family doctor. We were not allowed margarine in the house applegrove Jul 2022 #46
Oh wow. But you reminded me of what we used to Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #55
We were square heads. Nobody tried to trick there way out of school. applegrove Jul 2022 #62
I've heard even rats won't eat margarine. alphafemale Jul 2022 #79
Nuclear destruction, drop drills in school made it very real Raine Jul 2022 #30
You must have been SO much more enlightened than I was Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #41
My dad was a pilot in the USAF. I had alot to worry about. LeftInTX Jul 2022 #36
Hear you. Saddest day of my life was at the Vietnam Memorial Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #39
Yes, but he came back weird LeftInTX Jul 2022 #56
Means he had a big heart,! Probably why you do. Hope no has to Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #63
Nuclear War peggysue2 Jul 2022 #38
Socializing in school. Not guns, but the normal part of school mvd Jul 2022 #40
Remember when the world stopped when there was Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #50
Step on a crack, break your mother's back. Chellee Jul 2022 #44
Wonder if kids today still have crazy thoughts. Probably yes! Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #47
How fast summer vacation started. William769 Jul 2022 #51
Polio... The family doctor had an iron lung in a back room at his office... ultralite001 Jul 2022 #52
I worried about my mother getting sick gopiscrap Jul 2022 #57
Wow. So sorry! I didn't mean to bring up bad memories Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #60
I remember being about 6 and waking up in the middle of the night TlalocW Jul 2022 #59
This message was self-deleted by its author darmok167 Jul 2022 #64
Nuclear war. Looking back, we were so very close in time to WW II that it colored everything... Hekate Jul 2022 #66
Them! frogmarch Jul 2022 #67
scariest movie ever. jg10003 Jul 2022 #74
Getting trapped in a car underwater MandelaObama Jul 2022 #68
Nuclear war, my Mom's severe asthma electric_blue68 Jul 2022 #69
I work with kids jcgoldie Jul 2022 #70
Serial killers was a big one. betsuni Jul 2022 #71
Vietnam War Emile Jul 2022 #75
I use to Dorian Gray Jul 2022 #76
Nuclear war. Nt raccoon Jul 2022 #77
I worried about a lot when I was a kid Skittles Jul 2022 #78
Nuclear war. I had dreams, as a child of MineralMan Jul 2022 #81
As a young kid, nuclear annihilation, as a teen it was AIDS SYFROYH Jul 2022 #82
My worries were more immediate than nuclear war. Chainfire Jul 2022 #83
Being vaporized by an atom bomb. Greybnk48 Jul 2022 #87
During the first gulf war, Elessar Zappa Jul 2022 #88
My Parents RobinA Jul 2022 #89
"And a first lady that uses the F word in the same sentence as Christmas!?" Polybius Jul 2022 #91
It was Melania caught complaining about her Christmas decorating duties. Gidney N Cloyd Jul 2022 #93
How'd ya miss it? . Melania on tape. Excerpt: Laura PourMeADrink Jul 2022 #96
I am not given to nightmares. For me, they're rare. Playhouse 90's Alas Babylon gave them to me . . Stinky The Clown Jul 2022 #94
Nuclear war. highplainsdem Jul 2022 #95
My Dad having to go (back) to war. 11 Bravo Jul 2022 #97
Mine is weird - my fertility womanofthehills Jul 2022 #99
... roamer65 Jul 2022 #102
... roamer65 Jul 2022 #103
Nuclear war JustAnotherGen Jul 2022 #105
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