When I read Trauma Plate I was thinking of the vests and they reminded me of bike helmets. Parents try to get their kids to wear helmets when they are little and the kids just don’t want to because they looked lame. I know I was that way when I was younger and Ruth thinks the same thing about her vest. She seems like the only kid that wears one and it makes her feel like an outcast. Her parents, mostly her dad, just want her to be safe, just as most parents feel their child should be. Bill seems somewhat paranoid about wearing the vests and it makes sense to the reader when they know that the story was written right around the time of 9/11. The day that proved that our happy bubble of America was not completely impenetrable to terrorists shocked Americans to feel a sense of insecurity that I know I have never felt before in my life. Extra precautions were taken and I felt nervous whenever someone I loved traveled in a plane.
The desolate parking lot by their store and the unsuccessful businesses around them made me think of the recession and all the businesses that have had to close and shut down. Even though it was written before the huge mess of the economy took place, it still might apply.
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The parenting in this story is something I also noticed. It's interesting that no matter what might be going on in the world, certain parts of life never change. The different elements or topics that are involved may vary, but it seems like the way parents care will never change. The focus on teenage years and the growing up years were really focused on throughout this story. It seems like the growing up years are portrayed as the good time in life. As Ruth and her Husband grow older things aren't getting better, and thoughts of the past(good times) are reoccurring. This gave me as a reader the feeling that good things can't last. There is a reference of Utopia in this story that goes a long with the same theme. Utopia is a video store that is shut down. This is symbolic of ideal life and the fact that it can't last. The world in which this story takes place in is an example of reality, and it's not Utopia.
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