Memory Lane, again…

[Spiky Bugger]

The state corrections board today approved letting Sirhan Sirhan, RFK’s assassin, out of prison.

In my VERY youthful days, I went to the county jail “show up” (aka lineup) with a neighbor who had been robbed at work. I was SO impressed that every step we took, we were stopped by a new set of cops, purses inspected, questioned and then allowed to go two more steps.

While I waited for her, I saw some job bulletins for job skills she (and I) had. I figured that we weren’t likely to get robbed THERE. We applied. I got called to that same location for an interview. I asked what happened to the massive security that HAD been there.

It seems that my first visit was on a day that Sirhan Sirhan was being shuffled through that facility, and every cop in SoCal was on site…that one day…LOL.

The news just said he’d been incarcerated for 52 years. So I guess I’m old.

 

[aaa]

I remember being fascinated by his name.

 

[Munchkin]

Wow! You were there when history happened.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Wow! You were there when history happened.

When I think back, over almost three-quarters of a century, I guess I’ve been ”history adjacent.”

I wasn't AT the RFK assassination, but knew several who were right there, in the room. I was on the periphery of the first Manson Family arrests, at Spahn Ranch and in the courtroom for the guilty verdicts. I am the same age as television in Los Angeles, so Mom took us to early shows in early day studios. My sister and I were on Bill Stulla’s Parlor Party, where we celebrated her birthday. (He was later known as Engineer Bill and did the “red light-green light” schtick for drinking milk.) I guess seeing a great big Bozo the Clown in person may have turned me off to clowns. Apparently, I screamed and cried and got away asap! I remember having to go line up outside our (Catholic School) classrooms to celebrate the NEW pledge of allegiance that included “under God,” and the polio vaccine, with pink liquid drops on the sugar cube.

A guy I knew was an LAPD cop. Also, he was National Guard. So when the first Watts Riots happened, he had to leave his corner in his LAPD uniform and return in his Guard uniform…one block away. Once released, he drove a couple of us around to all the hot spots (brilliant idea) in his VW bug.

In YOUR area, I was living in Boulder City when PEPCON blew up. MiniSue’s middle school was on lockdown, and the Las Vegas kids who attended school in the area just north of what is now US215 (it was under construction) towards Boulder City and schools south of that area, were bussed into beautiful downtown Boulder City where an ARMY of (mostly) Mormon moms greeted them with hugs and snacks until it was safe to go back toward Las Vegas. I still have photos of all the businesses along Boulder Hwy with shattered glass and bent door frames. MrSue and a few maniacs he worked with were in Baker and told “you can’t get home from where you are.” But MrSue and friends didn’t like being told they couldn’t do something. So they just decided that driving a hundred miles in the dirt and dust and whatever else was there in electrical companies’ right-of-way was a GREAT idea.


I have to get many photos into albums. Who knows what else I might encounter! Whatever it is, I’ll probably bore y’all with the details.


ETA: This may or may not be the video that mentions marshmallows. There was a marshmallow factory just yards away from PEPCON. Over three decades later, it still isn’t okay to laugh about an explosion that cost people their lives…especially since one of the men who died was there making sure everyone else got our…but still…a marshmallow factory ALSO blew up and first responders had to wade through marshmallows. Now try to picture that and not at least smirk.

 

[Munchkin]

My uncles lived here when Pepcon exploded. He told us about the marshmallows too. All those dirt road right of way paths are still there. I used them frequently when I worked at the Williams-Sonoma outlet at Primm. On Sundays and holiday weekends when it could take 3 or 4 hours to drive there. I was always afraid I was going to get stuck or find a dead body!

 

[Munchkin]

I have one for you. I lived in Indianapolis as a child and I begged my parents to take me to the Ice Capades. It was a very big deal and they got tickets for me and my mom. It was on a Thursday night. I was angry and devastated when mom told me they had changed their minds because it was a school night. No Ice Capades for me. Turned out the venue blew up that night. Propane explosion. And most of the people sitting in our section died.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I have one for you. I lived in Indianapolis as a child and I begged my parents to take me to the Ice Capades. It was a very big deal and they got tickets for me and my mom. It was on a Thursday night. I was angry and devastated when mom told me they had changed their minds because it was a school night. No Ice Capades for me. Turned out the venue blew up that night. Propane explosion. And most of the people sitting in our section died.

WOW!!!
From the Department of Close Calls! Were you ever able to see Ice Capades after that?

 

[Munchkin]

WOW!!!
From the Department of Close Calls! Were you ever able to see Ice Capades after that?

Nope. Never made it there!

 

[JackieOnLine]

Who knows what else I might encounter! Whatever it is, I’ll probably bore y’all with the details.

you KNOW we love your stories!

No Ice Capades for me. Turned out the venue blew up that night. Propane explosion. And most of the people sitting in our section died.

holy cow, that was close.

 

[MsVee]

I am never bored by your stories. Please keep them coming!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I am never bored by your stories. Please keep them coming!

Kind of you.