It’s that Dragon Con time of year again, Thank God! And this morning we had breakfast and then went to get in line to pick up our con badges at the Courtland Grand Atlanta Hotel (formerly Sheraton). The line was long as expected, but moving quickly, also as expected.
While still outside, I noticed a woman breastfeeding her baby as she moved along in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. I did not think much about it at the time, only remembering that all of our children were also breastfed, and having some warm memories of those times. Once inside though, my thoughts drifted back to the woman breastfeeding her child.
I thought of just how important this event must be for someone to bring their child to it. We never brought any of our babies to conventions. We tried it once with our first child, only to return home and find a sitter because it was not working out. But later, we did bring our kids, once they could walk on their own. So in our own experiences, these cons were important enough events to involve the entire family.
Then it occurred to me that this was really the norm for Humans across history. The family was always involved in every activity worthy of doing, whether traveling to find more fertile pastures across the plains or around the world. Or gathering to celebrate new life, or mourning the passing of loved ones.
So back in 1987 when Star Trek: The Next Generation revealed that Galaxy Class starships like the Enterprise, included crew and their families, it wasn’t some strange, woke, notion shoe horned into the lore. Indeed, it was consistent with Human behavior across centuries of history. The Family is the fundamental unit of Humanity. This is how we do things, and this is how we Dragon Con, from newborn babes to Octogenarian Matriarchs!
