Dear Next Generation, Air raid drills and table manners! What a blend of “stuff” we had to learn in those unsettled years, 1934 to 1945! My brother and I lived with a lot of rules. Our Daddy was like other Daddies: He put on a suit and white shirt and tie every morning like all the other Daddies in our wonderful town and went to his job—except he also strapped a snub-nosed .38 revolver to his belt, which would be well concealed under his suit coat. Daddy was a detective for our city’s police department. That probably explains why our rules were especially strict and we had a lot to memorize! Table manners: “Elbows both off the table, sit as straight as we are able to.” Or, “mouths are always free from food when we drink our milk so good.” If we transgressed during supper, we would be asked to …