These were the comic books my father made me throw out in 1969

[PatrickforB]

29. Yeah, I sure didn't learn my history from public school, that's for sure.

I did have some decent civics coursework - some in high school and some in college.

But civil rights? Women's contributions and rights? Mistakes like Prohibition? The Depression? I learned about these reading historical fiction.

Maybe that is why, when I answer a question too quickly or seem too sure of myself, my wife will ask, "Do you really KNOW, or are you just making shit up?"

I will say, though, that much of the fiction I read was a bit slanted toward American Exceptionalism for sure, but Vietnam, Hunter Thompson, Howard Zinn and some good professors in undergrad turned me around to a truer viewpoint. I became a Democrat in college, and when I went to work in the publicly funded workforce system, I learned even more.

Remember the old Charlie Brown? Your comment about teachers droning reminds me of how Charles Schultz depicted the Peanuts gang's school experience.