Forty Years Ago

On July 20, 1969, I was on vacation with my family in Michigan's upper peninsula. We had gathered with some other relatives at my Aunt Mary's house to watch a special report on television. Some little news story about two Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the moon. I was quite impressed with our country's accomplishment, and proud that we had beat the Russians to the lunar surface. That was a big deal back then. I remember some company holding a contest, too, where people tried to guess what Neil Armstrong's first words would be as he stepped onto the moon. I recall much hoopla and excitement that night, and over the next few weeks.

One of the most comical things that resulted from the Apollo moon landings was a saying that became very popular over the years. Whenever something went mechanically wrong with almost any item, someone would inevitably say, "Geez, we can put a man on the moon, but we can't make a fill-in-the-blank that works." I have heard these words uttered continuously over the past four decades, and I have even found myself using the catchy phrase from time to time when something has broken down. Apparently rocket science leads not only to great universal discoveries, but to witty expressions as well.