From Those Wonderful People Who Gave Us Pearl Harbor!!

This was the title of a book written by a (brief) advertising genius. It was written back in the late 60s, I believe. Back then the title had more 'bite' than it does today. 40 years ago Japanese cars weren't all the rage and people didn't commit various forms of mayhem for Play Station 3s.

Any store that takes delivery of any PS3 todays will sell out immediately. And neither the store clerks nor the buyers will entertain ironic thoughts as one forks over cash or credit card and the other takes or accepts. Just another day in paradise.

List any white hot concern you've got today and in 50 years people will yawn at its mention. We're not 50 years from the fall of Saigon, but for people who didn't go through it, it's a yawner. And for those of us piloting those last choppers, straining to gain altitude with our over-loaded Huey's, we even have a hard time remembering who we were back then, much less the events themselves.

Just as the world reinvents itself and what matters to it, so do we, and what matters to us.

Swear to god, I once had a girlfriend who I found out was born full term, six months after her parents were married! (Cue clashing major chords, fortissimo!) It meant her parents had SINNED! (raise clashing major chords a half tone and increase volume!) Apparently I was quite the little sin nazi back then.

Now my boys are dealing with girls born of lesbian parents. Wedlock, what's that? And maybe my grandsons will be dealing with young women who were fertilized in-vitro and carried to term in donor wombs removed from cadavers and artificially maintained. It's do-able!

The Birth Certificates of the future will have to provide more room for suitable explanations and details. It's going to play holy hell with the Mormon Church's genealogical forms.

Anyway, as one who was alive (barely) during WWII, let me urge you to take the opportunity today to shove potatoes into the tail pipes of any handy Lexuses/Lexi.