The start of Covid is when I began writing notes to grandchildren. I was concerned that the virus not overly burden your with anxieties. I cited Jonas Salk, the hero who relieved my generation’s concern with polio. Looking back on those days, it was the parents’ of our generation who most feared polio. For Papa, polio was scary but only if time was spent thinking about it. Dr. Salk did so much for children. But as I recall, it was whether the Braves could catch the Brooklyn Dodgers for the pennant, whether a tiger could really defeat a lion in battle as alleged by Tommy Borski or if Flash Gordon would escape Ming The Merciless at the next Saturday Matinee that dominated my 50’s thoughts. “What Me Worry?” seemed to be the collective refrain for my peers. I have a sense that this attitude is also prevelant with most youngsters in thoday’s generation.
Not so for parents in at least certain cases. One parent in particular appeared to be in a panic mode and prone to overreact. Along the lines of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Recent news reports include a bizarre situation in which that parent locked a 13 year son in a car trunk to avoid Covid exposure from said child. The potential super spreader was denied a seat in the back of the auto and relegated to the boot. The child may have had Covid or had been exposed to Covid, but in either case Mommy Dearest wished a test to verify the kid’s current status. So, off to a drive through test site without the prodigy enetring the cabin of the vehicle.
Some commentators might say wedging a teen into a trunk is more compassionate than having him walk or be dragged behind the family sedan. What is known for sure is that medics at a Texas test site have rules about swabbing the nose of a boy laying flat on his back next to a spare tire. Common sense prevailed. The kid was tested outside the trunk. Mommy must face the consequences for her illegal act. Thus, proof postive of some parental anxiety over Covid.
However, beyond the obvious, there is another lesson in this tale of anxiety. I was hoping to save these lessons until my grandkids approached age 16; the looming driver’s license threshold. Then there will be true cause for anxiety. So, with a car trunk story freshsly in mind be aware that placing a human, any human, even a sibling, in a car trunk is a never, never. Which brings Papa back to the 1950’s. Yes, young people did exactly that dangerous act. It was a way to sneak into a drive-in movie without paying full fare. (BTW: you may need to research the concept of “Drive-In Movies”) There’d be a charge, often per car and an additional amount for each passenger. Fifty cents plus a quarter each for three people was $1.25. The three or four kids in the trunk got in free. Divide that up to calculate your savings!
A rear end collision with someone in the trunk is far more dangerous that a regular accident. Lives are at risk whenever you drive. Don’t lower your odds with careless behavior. In prior postings I advise against “doing silly” but say it’s okay to sometimes “be silly.” Drivng is never a time for silly. When you get behind the wheel of a car you graduate to be the most sensible and responsible person on the planet. No creatures in the trunk, no pulling taboogans behind on a tow rope, no drinking/drugs or allowing passengers to distract. I’ll tell the story down the line when driving is addressed head on (No pun intended) but once Eddie M, a pal, almost caused me to hit a pedestrian when I was driving. Putting him in the truck was not an option but he should have sat in the rear seat. Riding shotgun, he stretched out and did silly with his left foot and the gas pedal. When you begin to drive, no matter how responsible you are, be on the lookout for the unexpected. Not a time fpor silliness.