By Larry Cohen c 2026
The two most dreaded words to a 7th Grader during my year there was “science fair” This meant that all of us as individuals (the concept of teams and team work had not yet been developed at that time) had to come up with some innovative idea that we could show our parents and teachers as well as a few School Board members, viz, the “Judging Committee”, just how creative and knowledgeable we were when it came to the sciences.
I had no creativity whatsoever. My father bought me some kind of electronics kit with little springs on the board to connect different electronic parts to make various projects. In bold letters on the box, it read “NO SOLDERING REQUIRED,” which probably was the best-selling point for kids of my age at the time.
The electronic projects were quite simple, e.g., an AM radio receiver, an alarm that was light-activated, and other pretty mundane projects. There was nothing particularly innovative about this kit since the company that made them, for the most part, had already done all of the work. So, for creativity, I was not at the top of the class. Furthermore, as to my explanation of how the various parts worked, I was not up on Ohm’s Law at the time, so I could not even give a coherent explanation without repeating myself.
Since this Science Fair occurred about the time that tensions were high coming out of Cuba and Russia, the most common project that many of the students made were (Nuclear) Fallout Shelters. These Fallout Shelters were generally made from sugar cubes for the walls and the ceilings were left open so everyone could see what was stored in case of a nuclear war. There were miniature tanks of water, miniature parcels of food, a medical kit, and other necessities to survive the aftermath of a nuclear blast. These all were homey-looking places to be able to survive until the radiation levels went down.
Everything would have gone fine the night of the Fair, were it not for one fellow in our class whom I’ll call Roger. Roger was one of the politically astute kids who came from a politically astute family. Roger’s project was explaining how an airplane wing worked and the Bernoulli principle of air pressure and lift. However, once the Judging Committee passed his exhibit, Roger went around to all of the other students’ exhibits who made Fallout Shelters and asked the leading question, “Where’s the gun?” to which the student would naturally ask, “What gun?”
And then Roger unloaded.
“Well, you don’t think after the Russians bomb us, they’re just going to let you come out and live a normal life again…..do…you?” asked Roger with a sarcastic laugh. “You’ll have to fight, won’t you?” again with that laugh. And, then, he would add, “…and what about the rest of these families, pointing to the rest of us, who don’t have shelters and want to break into yours? You’re going to have to shoot them off, too, aren’t…you?” At that point, the Science Fair almost had its own nuclear war since all of the kids who built these shelters went up to the science teacher and asked him if they should have had guns in their sugar cube Fallout Shelters because Roger said we needed them. The parents then got wind of what was going on, and that ended the Fair. It was over. The science teacher announced from the stage in the gym where the fair was held that it was over, and that the ribbons for the winners would be handed out at some other time.
All I learned that night was how an airplane wing works, and never build a fallout shelter out of sugar cubes if Roger is around. A lot of other kids learned the same thing, too….I hope.
