Growing in America

Subjects Information

Personal Information

Name: Gary Prosser

Age: 55

Date of Birth: 23 February 1957

Gender: Male

Race: Caucasian

Family Background: Canadian on mothers side and I am not sure about my fathers they all live in Tennessee.

Graduated High School: 1975

Family Information

Area your family lived: Georgia outside of Atlanta

Size of family: 3 sisters 4 brothers

Main political views of family: Never was a topic of conversation in my house my grandparents were republican though

Financial state of family: Low sometimes middle class

My expectations of the interview

I choose to interview my father for this project. He comes from a very poor family and has made a great living for himself and our family. Many of these questions I have never asked him and this will be a great time to get to know about my father's background. I expect for him to talk less about the big events when he was younger because he is a more laid back guy that doesn't let much affect him. Not saying he doesn't care about what is going on, he just is more focused on his family and his self. I am guessing he will like to talk about the hard times he had growing up because when I was younger he was constantly reminding me "You think there's nothing to eat, when I was growing up we didn't even have a fridge!" I know he will have an opinion on some current events; we have talked about some mostly the war on terror before I went to Afghanistan. Other than that I hope to learn some great things about my father's childhood.

Growing up in America

What was childhood like in America like for you?

Very laid back even though we didn't have the most money. I was outside nonstop; we never had to worry about crime in those days. I don't know if it was because it wasn't there or because it wasn't as public. We lived in a small town neighborhood with tons of kids and a park right up the street. It was very stress free life we didn't even lock the door at night. Now it seems there is more crime I think the population increase has a lot to do with it

Are there any events during childhood that stuck with?

The Viet Nam war was one of the major events that I can remember. When I was around 10 or so my neighbor got drafted in went off to war. That was expected but he never came home just a group of military members to let his mother know he had been killed in Viet Nam. Before this I never thought anything about the military but after this I always had a fear to get drafted and go to the war. The war ended shortly but I still feared getting drafted and luckily after I turned 18 Jimmy Carter Abolished the draft and I got to throw away my draft card legally. Looking back I shouldn't have feared going to the military, it probably would have been a good experience for me.

Your favorite toy, gadget, game that came out during your childhood years?

By far the best toy that came out when I was a child was the erector set. This was a set that allowed you to build little cranes and even had small electric motors in them. This laid down a foundation for my love of mechanics.

Do you have any regrets from your younger years?

My parents divorced when I was 15 so after that I didn't get much time with my father, even before that dad was always working. So Inever had someone to push me to do what I needed. I wish I would have taken more action on my life when I was younger and been more productive.

What would you do differently or tell a younger you not to do?

I went to college for 2 years and quit I definitely would have finished college. I told myself to Work hard while your younger and play later dummy!

When