Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tokeepitsplutoniumsafeforratherlessthan36years.This,itseemstome,isaconvincing
argument for not allowing your government to mess, with plutonium.
And this was only one leak out of many. At a similar facility in the state of Washington,
500,000 gallons of highly radioactive substances drained away before anyone thought to
put a dipstick in the tank and see how things were doing. How do you lose 500,000 gallons
of anything? I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that I would not like
tobearealestateagenttryingtosellhousesinPocatelloorIdahoFallsfiveyearsfromnow
when the ground starts to glow and women are giving birth to human flies.
For the time being, however, Idaho Falls remains an agreeable little city. The downtown
wasattractiveandstillevidentlyprospering.Treesandbencheshadbeensetout.Abigban-
ner was draped across one of the streets saying, IDAHO FALLS SAYS NO TO DRUGS.
That's really going to keep the kids off the hard stuff, I thought. Small-town America is
obsessed with drugs, yet I suspect that if you strip-searched every teenager in Idaho Falls
you would come up with nothing more illicit than some dirty magazines, a packet of con-
domsandahalf-emptybottleofJackDaniel's.Itwillhelpthemtocopewhentheyfindout
there's plutonium in their drinking water.
I had an excellent dinner at Happy's Chinese Restaurant. The room was empty except for
one other party consisting of a middle-aged couple, their teenage daughter and a Swedish
ex change student who was simply radiant-blond, tanned, softspoken, hypnotically beauti-
ful. I stared at her helplessly. I had never seen anyone so beautiful in a Chinese restaurant
in Idaho before. After a while a man came in who was evidently a passing acquaintance
of the family and stopped at their table to chat. He was introduced to the Swedish girl and
askedheraboutherstayinIdahoFallsandifshehadbeentothelocalsights-thelavacaves
and hot springs. (She had. Zey were vairy nice.) Then he asked The Big Question. He said,
“Well, Greta, which do you like better, the United States or Sweden?”
The girl blushed. She obviously had not been in the country long enough to expect this
question. Suddenly she looked more child than woman. With an embarrassed flutter of
hands she said, “Oh, I sink Sweden,” and a pall fell over the table. Everyone looked un-
comfortable.“Oh,”saidthemaninaflat,disappointedtone,andtheconversationturnedto
potato prices.
PeopleinmiddleAmericaalwaysaskthatquestion.WhenyougrowupinAmericayouare
inculcated from the earliest age with the belief-no, the understanding-that America is the
richestandmostpowerfulnationonearthbecauseGodlikesusbest.Ithasthemostperfect
form of government, the most exciting sporting events, the tastiest food and amplest por-
