tas@ariel.UUCP (08/31/83)
There's been a lot of reminiscing of late about old TV shows (much more than about present shows. Does that say something about the quality of the shows or just about the quality of memories?). In the course of reliving all those memories, I recalled that I as a child used to *believe* in a lot of the programs. Specifically, I have the following recollections: 1) I used to have a recurring dream that some of my cartoon pals, such as Huckleberry Hound and Quick-Draw McGraw, came to visit me. We never had room for them in the house, so we let them sleep outside in the back yard. When I awoke they were always gone, and I assumed that they'd just moved on. This was back in the days when I didn't clearly differentiate between dreams and reality (not that I do now). 2) I once asked Huckleberry Hound a question while watching him on the tube, and he answered it (I think it was a yes/no response). This certainly supported my belief. 3) When I was in first grade, I was the biggest Astroboy fan there was. I used to pray to God that He'd give me my own Astroboy. In return I'd do anything God wanted. I have no idea now of *why* I had this great desire. Suffice it to say that God didn't honor my request, but, then, I never lived up to my end of the deal either. (Could this be the root of all the unhappiness I've suffered since? :-)) 4) Eventually I got to the stage where I began to have my doubts, but then I saw The Woody Woodpecker Show, where an animated character was actually interacting with a human being. Well, I thought, that guy can't possibly be talking to something that doesn't really exist.... Children's minds certainly are impressionable. No wonder people are concerned about keeping advertisers honest and minimizing violence and so on. Not saying what I still *do* believe in, Tom Skrobala ariel!tas