<Begin Segment 38>

TI: Well, so Norm, I'm finished with all of my questions. Is there anything else that you wanted to say or comment on that I haven't touched on in terms of your life?

NH: Oh...

TI: Or what, perhaps, in terms of reflecting on, in some ways, the, the ironies or the pathway you took. I mean...

NH: Well, I guess one of the things that I'd like to talk about a little bit is people ask me if I'm bitter or angry because of evacuation. And I'm upset that it happened and it shouldn't have happened, that I thoroughly agree with, and I don't care what anybody says, it should not have happened. But to be mad about it, I'm not... I'm not so angry that I have to not do anything. I have to get on with my life. The unfortunate thing is there are some of my, well, two people that I know of that are very good friends of mine. They were mad and they stayed mad, and they were bitter, and their lives were really just down the drain. Well, I think they went down the drain. One of them became a shoemaker, he didn't go to college, he should have gone to college. Another one, a very brilliant guy, he was going to Cal -- I think he was brilliant anyhow -- and he came back and he just sort of said, "The hell with everything," and just worked, okay, you go to work, and if he didn't like it he said, "I quit." And he just could never get going with life, and his life was ruined, I think. And that's, that's sad. But on the other hand, some of us were, we did pretty good. I became a teacher, my best friend, my friend in Denver became a grocery store proprietor, owner, and so on.

TI: And so where do you think this philosophy of not being bitter came from?

NH: To be bitter is not useful. Being revengeful or whatever you want to call it, just, what good is it?

TI: And so where did you learn this?

NH: I don't know. I don't know where I learned that, but I must have. But to be bitter, you see it sometimes, and you ask, "Well, what good is it?" And then of course it's no good. So I guess that's the evaluation I made.

TI: Well, good, that's an excellent way to end this interview. So thank you, Norm, so much for doing this.

NH: No, no, you're welcome.

TI: This was excellent.

NH: Thanks a lot.

TI: Thank you.

<End Segment 38> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.