September 1961: "Not As We Know It"

"Even unpleasant experiences can be inspiring.

For instance, my children once conned me into taking them to a mobster-movie they had seen advertised on TV.

"It's science fiction," they explained. They don't exactly know what science fiction is, but they have gathered it's something daddy writes, so the argument is considered very powerful.

I tried to explain that it wasn't science fiction by my definition, but although I had logic on my side, they had decibels on theirs.

So I joined a two-block line consisting of every kid for miles around with an occasional grown-up who spent his time miserably pretending he was waiting for a bus and would leave momentarily. It was a typical early spring day in New England - nasty drizzle whipped into needle-spray by a howling east wind - and we inched slowly forward.

Finally, when we were in six feet of the ticket sellers and I, personally, within six inches of pneumonia, my guardian angel smiled and I had my narrow escape. They hung up the SOLD OUT sign.

I said, with a merrylaugh, "Oh, what a dirty shame," and drove my howlingly indignant children home."

He then goes on to talk about "life as we don't know it" and how it might develop on other planets.



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