A typically cheery thought

[cmdr_zoom]

To die alone is widely regarded as a very bad, sad thing; some go so far as to say that we all die alone, in some sense.

Ironic, then, that for a good ten years or so, my great fear was that my death would be accompanied/shared by most of the Northern Hemisphere.

Comments

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

My understanding was that Eugene itself was a low-priority target, what with the rail yard and population center. My previous home, Roseburg, might well have made it through untouched.

That said, in the event of a full-scale Global Thermonuclear War, I would almost prefer to perish in the initial exchange rather than live through the aftermath. I'm a civilized man, and when civilization goes, so do I.

You're right that the fear was played up, though if it kept us away from the brink, I'd say that's a good thing in the long run. I think that for me, a big part of it was the perception outlined above: that there was a very small but non-zero chance that it could happen at any time, either because of an outright glitch or misinterpretation (like the one narrowly averted by Colonel Petrov) or some escalation of Cold War saber-rattling. A sword of Damocles hanging over my head, over which I had no control at all.