The Only Thing I Have To Fear

My son is more afraid of zombies than he is of nuclear war. This is a striking contrast to the world in which I grew up. I was deathly afraid of nuclear war, and along with the rest of my generation, I lived long enough to see past that. I, along with the rest of my generation, can still get all bunged up about the potential of any number of "rogue nations" that might get hold of atomic weapons, but I still see zombies as a shambling nuisance at best.
My son doesn't care if North Korea had a reliable method of delivering and detonating a thermonuclear device. Likewise with Iran or any of the other breakaway republics with an axe to grind or atom to split. He's very concerned about the reanimation of dead human beings and their interest in gnawing on his skull. He has a zombie apocalypse plan. It is only slightly tongue in cheek. This is interesting to me, since he grew up in a world that had 9/11 in it. His life has been color-coded for terror pretty much straight along, but he's still more nervous about finding the best exit out of any given room and access to any kind of pointed implement that could be used to stop the undead in their otherwise ceaseless need for brains.
Maybe that's a reflection of where we, as a country are. We've surrendered a bit to the inevitability of bombs going off in public places, hostages taken, and more bombs going off in public places. Zombies don't offer that kind of certainty. They offer a unifying world view: The living versus the undead. Zombies don't care about politics. They care about brains. Yours.
So I'm at peace with this idea for the time being. I wonder how long my son can hold out with his world view being supported by George Romero, but I suppose it beats that of Ronald Reagan. Ugh, there's a thought: Zombie Ronald Reagan.