The last time my brother, Bud, came to visit Chet and me here in the swamps of Southwest Louisiana, he made three CD’s for me, one of which is a mix of his favorite country tunes. He said it was “good truck-driving music,” for when I drive my big, black Tundra about Lafayette and its environs. Well, today, I was out and about running some errands, so I popped the CD into the player. And Bud was right; it is good truck-driving music, but then, pickup trucks and country tunes just seem to go together, rather like fried green tomatoes and field peas; cornbread and buttermilk; or longneck beers and boiled peanuts. 

Anyway, the first tune on the CD is in many ways your stereotypical country tune. (Don’t ask me who sings it or its title because Bud did not include that information on the jacket). The guy has a definite country twang, and he strums a guitar as he belts out his tune. I like the tune, though; it’s about how the times have changed since he was young, and those times he’s singing about were my times as well. They were times when mothers smoked and drank; kids didn’t drink bottled water but, instead, got their water from garden hoses on a hot summer’s day; they also rode their bikes without the benefit of helmets to protect their noggins (In fact, no one had even heard of helmets for bike riders); baby cribs were coated with lead paint; and people ate all kinds of “unhealthy” foods. Yet, ultimately, in spite of all these “bad” things, as the singer says, “We turned out all right.”

As I listened to the song, I recalled those days quite nostalgically. Things really were different back then; and, in many, many ways, life was much simpler and also far more pleasant. And, personally, I think the main difference between then and now was the absence of fear. People weren’t afraid of everything back then. We weren’t afraid to drink from garden hoses; ride bikes bareheaded; smoke cigarettes; drink alcoholic beverages; use lead-based paint; or eat eggs, bacon, and country-fried steak smothered in gravy.

When did things change? What has made people so afraid? Is it a result of medical research done in labs all over the nations where, after extensive testing, some “expert” in a starched-white coat steps back from an experiment and gleefully exclaims, “Ah, ha, this is bad for you”? Is it the result of some vast conspiracy by corporate America to turn each of us into the consummate consumer of expensive products? Who knows the answer? I certainly don’t.

Of course, the question is, are we any better off for living in fear? If we watch our diets, give up smoking, drink only bottled water, and avoid deep-fried foods, will we live to be as old as Methuselah? Will we live to be even 100? Or, on the other hand, by avoiding all these things, are we instead missing out on a lot that makes life enjoyable? Maybe, maybe not, but personally I think we are. And I don’t know about you, but I refuse to live in fear. Besides, when I was a child, I drank from garden hoses, rode my bike bareheaded, licked lead-based paint, and consumed deep-fried Southern cuisine (Still do for that matter, well, that is, except for the paint; I gave that up a while back); and, hey, I turned out all right.