Green Dragon Tavern
A place to sit down with a couple of pints of ale and wax subversive.
Organizer:
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Dime Sized Scars….
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Dime Sized Scars….
When I was a kid and would visit my Grandparents in York, PA, I couldn’t help but notice these dime sized scars on mr Grandpa’s ankles. When he was a teenager, he lied about his age, and joined the US Navy at age 14. He was sent to China, where he got some very cool old school, Sailor Jerry style tattoos, and every Sunday watched the execution of political prisoners. From the photos he showed me of piles of human heads, it goes to show, that the Chinese weren’t really all that nice back in the days before World War I. An early preview of coming attractions here…? I don’t know, but it bears consideration.
My Grandpa fought in WWI, and was injured when his ship was torpedoed or the 19-teens version of that. So I always figured those dime sized scars on his ankles were war wounds. They weren’t. Those scars were attained when he was 10 years old, working in a steel mill, where the molten slag bubbled and spit out little globs of molten steel, which burned through his dungarees and managed to get through to kid ankles. 10 years old! They don’t make ‘em like that any more.
I have a dime sized scar on my upper arm, from the Smallpox vaccine I received as a child. Since receiving that vaccine, I’ve not heard of a case of Smallpox in the US since. Not one. Several years later I ate a sugar cube containing the Polio vaccine. I know people who contracted Polio before the vaccine, but have not heard of a case since the vaccine came out. In the late 60’s and early 70’s I was introduced to another sugar cube, which was a vaccine against reality, and paired well with the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Cream, but we won’t go there.
My point, if there is one, is that the vaccines of my of my childhood and wayward youth actually worked! Now my family thinks me madder than a hatter for not taking one of the Covid vaxxes. I counter with the older vaccines that worked versus those that don’t guarantee efficacy for even six months, but I’m getting dire warnings and guilt shaming for not taking the current vax-du-jour. That’s OK, I remember my ancestors, and in particular my Grandpa’s dime sized scars. I come from good stock. I much prefer to “die living than live dying.”
And, remember what Edward R. Murrow once said, “…we are not descended from fearful men.”
Peace, love, and fear not, Brothers and Sisters…and perhaps pass the ammunition, please.
Good barman, another round of ales for the house, if you please.
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2 Replies
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Thanks for sharing your story!
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My pleasure, Peter. I feel blessed to have known him, and to be of his lineage. Thanks for your comment. Feel free to jump in anytime.
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