Warday

“They’re flying low,” he mutters, “to avoid radar. Since they can’t see, they’re measuring ground speed against the stopwatch so they can tell when to climb over obstacles.”

“More or less.”

“If that’s a question, the answer is less.”

We fly like this for what seems like hours. In fact, we go through the mountains literally at treetop level, with the boy counting and making check marks on a yellow pad, and the plane popping up and down almost continuously.

When I get airsick, the boy hands back a bag without ever missing his count.

Suddenly, just when it seems that the worst will never end, we are droning along straight and level, approaching the Los Angeles basin. “Palm Springs off to the left,” Maggie comments. The lights of the town are beside us rather than below us. I decide to close my eyes until we land.

But there is no chance. I see L.A. then, and I almost burst into tears. Ahead and a little below are beads, strings, fountains of light It is a vision from the past, wealthy and mysterious and wonderful.

“I’m gonna leave you near Colton Airport. You know L.A., either of you?”

“I don’t,” I say, “but I don’t think we want to be left at an airport. We’ll have to deal with customs, won’t we?”

“I didn’t say at Colton airport. Near it. We drop people various places. We ain’t used this particular spot in a month. I’m gonna land on Interstate 10, just west of the airport. I’m not even gonna turn off the engine. You just pile out and I’ll give ’er the gun and that’s it. You’re on your own. There’s an interurban station right near the airport. Go there. There won’t be anybody around this time of night. Last trolley comes through at midnight. It’s a dime.”

Ten minutes later we are sitting in the brightly lit trolley stop.

There is an ad on the back wall for Yamaha bicycles and a placard announcing,

MARTIAL LAW AREA, OBEY LOCAL REGULATIONS, IF YOU

VIOLATE A CURFEW, REMEMBER: SOLDIERS ARE REQUIRED TO

SHOOT!

Penciled in below this are Colton’s local laws: curfew is midnight or last trolley. The area commandant is Colonel William Piper, U.S.A., address GPO Colton, phone number 213-880-1098.

Suspicious persons should be reported at once.

Hello, sunshine.

Poll Opinions from the Two Americas

There really are two Americas now, the first nation being California and its satellite Western states, the second being the rest of us folks—dirty, tired, and radioactive.

Out West, the public impression of the state of the rest of the country is very much worse than actual conditions would warrant.

“Outsiders” are looked upon as contagious at best, and probably downright lethal.

The West believes that

• America is recovering from the war.

• The West is helping the East as much as it can.

• The War Zones ought to be abandoned.

Naturally the East thinks otherwise, and though the War Zones are not broken out separately, they presumably feel that they should be rehabilitated.

Surprisingly, neither East nor West feels that long-term martial law in the War Zones is a threat to the Constitution, though the East has a stronger opinion in this matter than the West.

Do you believe that the United States is continuing to make a recovery from the 1988 war?

-	1993	1992	1991
AGREE	49%	41%	30%
DISAGREE	46	57	67
NO OPINION	5	2	3

A significant East-West split is reflected in the response to this question. As first noted three years ago, marked differences appear between the states of the so-called War Zone and the remaining states. When asked this question in 1993, these two regions responded:

-	East/War Zone	West
AGREE	30%	42%
DISAGREE	69	55
NO OPINION	1	3

In terms of assistance for recovery, do you believe that the federal government should abandon the War Zones permanently in order to concentrate resources on those marginally affected areas that could more fully benefit from the assistance?

-	1993	1992
AGREE	47%	49%
DISAGREE	50	47
NO OPINION	3	4

As in last year’s survey, there were sharp regional differences:

-	East/War Zone	West
AGREE	25%	61%
DISAGREE	73	36
NO OPINION	2	3

Do you believe that the regions of the United States unaffected directly by the war are doing everything they can to assist in the full recovery of the War Zones?