Rattle, Rattle, Boom!

[poliphilo]

 Airbourne came to an end. In the evening there were fireworks down on the sea front. I watched from our windows for about a minute but there were roofs in the way that blocked my view of all but the aerial starbursts.  It was very very noisy.

Rattle, rattle, rattle!

Boom!

What is it about human beings and very loud noises? What's the attraction?

In my mid teens I got my hands on a record of the sound effects for the WWI play Journey's End. My house master was clearing out his study and gave it to me. Who could object, I thought, if I put it on the stereo and played it with the volume turned up to the max? Whiz-bangs! Machine guns! How positively life-enhancing!

But my grandmother was staying with us at the time and objected strenuously. In fact she got quite distressed.

Silly old fool, I thought. Spoiling the fun.

She needs to get real.

My grandmother lived through both world wars and had lost a son in the Second. Her home in the North Downs had been located right underneath the Battle of Britain...

Comments

[cmcmck]

A lot of that generation suffered from undiagnosed PTSD.

[heleninwales]

And also the generation before. Both my grandfathers were in France in WWI and G's grandfather was killed there. My father wasn't considered fit enough for the army and was in a reserved occupation, but he was in the Home Guard on fire watch etc and Manchester was bombed. And then afterwards everyone was supposed to just keep a stiff upper lip and pretend everything was absolutely fine.

[poliphilo]

And it's not only one generation but two or three in succession.