You might want to look up an old Mike Royko column in the Chicago Tribune, about a man with a bedside gun who thought he saw someone standing at the foot of his bed in the dark.
You made me laugh. Both stories. I had two years of Latin and three of Spanish in high school, one semester of French and one year of German in college. One of my boys did an internship with some landscapers; later his class was visited by some Montessori students from Mexico City. He said they practically spoke different languages. Here in Arizona they speak differently than my co-workers in Illinois.
There was no such thing as Take your kid to work day when i was young. (I can’t imagine kids going into the steel mills.) I never was in the building where Dad worked but I think Mom had an opportunity to see the offices at least. This assignment is crazy. Many people have jobs where kids cannot go.
My son taught himself programming starting when he was about 12. Apparently he was a whiz at it, winning prizes. But when he was encouraged to do it professionally he said no way. He couldn’t imagine anything more boring than to do that all day every day.
Spring 1971. They took things that only had value to me.