The "Preparing for a Catastrophe" Story

It was an ordinary day. We just got back to French class. Seems we have to practice air-raid and fire drills all the time in school. I can remember when I was in elementary school at MJ Brecht on the Lititz Pike in Lancaster. We would have air-raid drills where the school would sound an alarm and we all had to get under our desks. Really scary for young kids. I became a pro at it by the time I was in 6th grade. Then we also had to practice fire drills where the fire alarm would go off and we all had to quietly file out of the school. Had to do one of those a month, but it seems that sometimes we would do two a month to make up for the months when it was freezing out and we had no drill. When I moved to the Jr./Sr. High School in Neffsville we would still have the fire drills and air-raid drills, but then the air-raid drill would take us to the underground cafeteria where we would line the sides of the cafeteria until all the bombs would stop falling. This was back in the 50s, during the Cold War and Russia was allegedly a big nuclear threat. Then in 1958, after moving to the new High School, our air-raid drills would take us to the underground hallway that led to our swimming pool. The hallway was dimly lit with no windows, naturally, and had an eerie feel to it. I could just imagine what it would be like if we really were getting bombed. During those times I often thought about my Aunt Doris and Uncle Paul and their fall-out shelter they had built in their home in the city of Lancaster. Loved going there and seeing the shelter lined with cans of food and bottles of water. My student days are gone, but while working in the old Jr./Sr. High, I had to be back in the underground cafeteria area to work in my make-shift darkroom that I used for my in-house printing I do for the school district, and I noticed the many cases of water and nonperishable food supplies. I inquired about them and sure enough, they still keep the supplies on hand "just in case." In case of what, I don't know! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.