Tales We Were Told

​Oh, what tales we were told, when we were young!
 
We were told that if you lost a tooth, the tooth fairy would give you 25 cents. Now we know that, if you lose a tooth, you will pay someone else thousands of dollars.
 
We were told that, if you stepped on a crack, you would break your mother’s back. Now we know that osteoporosis, a cocktail of hormones, nutrition, exercise and genetics, is what will crinkle a spinal column.
 
We were told that the moon was made of green cheese. Now we know that the moon is made of minerals, trace elements and even an as yet unanalyzed gel-like substance detected by the Chinese moon rover, Yutu-2.
 
We were told that ‘germs’ were a threat to our health and a hazard to avoid. Now we know that there are ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ amongst all the earth’s organisms and that it is healthy to eat yogurt that is wriggling with bacteria.
 
We were told that smoking cigarettes was cool. Now we know that smoking cigarettes is not cool.
 
We were told that if we turned off lights and kept the thermostat at 68, we could save the rain forest. Now we know that that was not enough.
 
We were told that the government was elected by the people and for the people. Now we know what tales we were told. 
 
 
 
10 Sept 2019