On how knowledge dissipates fear
One reason I wouldn't have panicked about Lite-Brites maybe being bombs is because, when I was a kid, my friends and I blew shit up.

That sort of gives me a feeling for how explosions work. If someone suggested that those Lite-Brite ads hanging around Boston were bombs, I'd look at them, and realize that there's just not that much explosive you could pack into them. They're just not big enough.

Oh, you could certainly injure, or, if you were VERY lucky, kill someone. You could maybe pack as much explosive in there as you have in a grenade. Of course, they were generally high up, so they weren't close enough to ground level to have significant concussive impact, but if you had shrapnel, you could do some damage.

Still, not enough to worry about.

Could they damage the bridges? Only if they were very carefully placed shaped charges. And those probably wouldn't have a Lite-Brite on them.

So, I guess that one major problem that this country has is that too few people have grown up doing dangerous stupid shit. Because, when you grow up doing dangerous stupid shit, you actually end up with a better idea of risk assessment. And a better idea of what actually can and cannot be done.

Um. Those of us who survive, I mean. Danno did blow his thumb off, but they found it and reattached it. And Rusty got pretty severe burns on one leg. But other than that, we didn't have any serious injuries that I remember.

But, well, if you grew up knowing how to make pipe bombs, it gives you a certain, I don't know, comfort level with the idea of pipe bombs and other improvised munitions. You get a feel for what can be done, and what can't be done. And so you can look at things and get a feel for, if they DO happen to be bombs, whether they're bombs worth worrying about.

Plus, if you've played with Lite-Brites, that would also have helped in this case.