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Lisa Wagoner's avatar

It's so funny, I started reading this entry thinking, "She's a Gen X-er!" as I recognize my fellow survivor. I personally can't watch survival shows because they actually do remind me of my childhood. Right there with you in solidarity, childhood memories and survival skills. I also always think of the book I'd take to a desert island. Great entry!

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SM's avatar

Some of the best storytelling I have read in a while (the joy have reading has been really hard for me since the pandemic).

You are right-while the Ingalls family was alone, they were never lonely. But Rose was always trying to fill her loneliness with people; and then she realized they weren’t as smart as she or they didn’t live up to her standards (because they were free and independent, too) and she was left behind OR she pushed them away.

There is a kindred spirit of Gen X and LHOTP. Not only because most of our generation watched the show/read the books, but also because we were left alone to figure it out. “children must be seen and not heard”. Those lessons resonate deep into our collective souls. Rose was left alone a lot, too.

There might be a political point to this train of thought. We expect people to not be soft, pull up by bootstraps and quitters aren’t good (Goonies never say die). Are we being Rose-like with peers who didn’t get the message of empathy? Did Laura exhibit empathy? There is judgement of Mrs. Brewster and those who gave up and went back east.

Our culture is built on bootstrapping. And frontiers…we conquered the American West desert, we went to space, now it seems like we in some sort of weird land grab, but also deporting people so there is MORE resources for fewer people. We keep a survivalist mentality because we don’t want to go backwards, but I worry that for those that want to quit the show, there is no safe “back east” to return home to.

Ok so musings/ranting is not what I wanted to do here (much less end a sentence with a preposition). We romanticize obstacles and achieving goals, when maybe we should celebrate those who demonstrated kindness or empathy. 🤔

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