Time Off for Bad Behavior?

Radiation. An element that you can't touch, taste, smell or see, yet we're all scared of it.
It's a dreaded thing.
I told my radiation oncologist, "I grew up near Three Mile Island ... what do you say we shave off a few of these treatments and call it even?"
She said, "Thanks for playing."
"What about the near melt down in '78?" (I was living in Florida at the time, but it was worth a try).
"Hmmph."
"OK, I stand really close to my microwave oven and I'm pretty sure that one time my lead apron fell off during dental x-rays."
"No deal."
Crap.
It's amazes me that any of my generation is still around. As kids, we didn't wear seat belts (and most cars had metal dash boards-- that leaves a mark!). There were no bike helmets. We gave kids a lift on our bike handle bars. I had "clackers," two glass balls suspended on a string that one could hit together. Station wagons, the mini-van of the 60's-70's: how many of us fought to ride in the way back of the that car (no seats)? Neighborhood kids rode their bikes--behind the mosquito spray truck!
But, we had fun! We left the house in the morning and didn't come home until dark! Unless we were hungry. We got into mischief and caused trouble.
I had a bountiful childhood, a life without limits!
Too, I'm glad I didn't have to carry a cell phone with me when I walked the eight blocks to the community pool or went swimming in the lake at Mt. Gretna.
Scary things consisted of "B" horror films, like "Die Monster Die," the Comet, the roller coaster at Hershey Park and the old abandoned farmhouse that my cousins swore was haunted.
Our kids are sheltered. There's more things to fear; parents can't let their kids roam. Too much to worry about.
At the same time, we are, all of us insulated, thinking if we eat the right foods, work out at the gym, drink alcohol in moderation, pass on the smoking, drive the speed limit, buy one of those hang upside-down things, that nothing bad will happen to us.
But life comes without a seat belt.
Life owes us nothing.
So, during each treatment I'll think of childhood walks in the farmer's field, hoping the electric fence wasn't working, riding my bike beyond the limits (sans helmet), driving my '65 VW, no seatbelts, windows down, hair flying, engine in the back driving me forward.