"May you live in interesting times," goes the familiar curse — or as the Chinese say in a similar vein, "It's better to be a dog in times of peace than a human in times of chaos."
Unquestionably these are interesting times. It's not war, but somehow it's not peace either. Is chaos too strong a word? The weekly magazine Friday tells this story: A teacher in a girls' junior high school in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, 25 km from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power plant, handed out a questionnaire which asked: "Do you want to get married? How many children do you intend to have?"
The students were surprised, but, as Friday says, the real shock was yet to come. After collecting the papers the teacher faced his class and said, "If possible you'd better not marry or have children." One girl burst out, "Teacher, why are you saying such things?" "Do you seriously think," the teacher shot back, "that you'll be able to lead normal lives?"