Parents and Grandparents view on the Cold War

I interviewed both my grandparents and parents about the Cold War, and got some very surprising answers.  My grandparents were living in Connecticut at the time, and said that they didn't really notice any difference during the time.  They did say, however, that Nikita Khrushchev was a very scary guy, as evidenced when he slammed his shoes on his desk at a 1960 UN conference.  There was no consequence from this though.  My grandparents went on to say that business was as good as always, and there was significant growth during the time.  They said that Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian leader later in 20th century, seemed to be a good guy.  My dad's response was slightly different than my grandparents.  He was in the 1st grade during the Cuban Missile Crisis and said the Cold War was a very frightening time. He lived in Spokane, Washington, where there was a weekly siren to warn for a nuclear attack.  Russia was widely regarded as America's greatest enemy, and also a world superpower.  In one particular memory, he said remembering looking up at the sky after the Sputnik launch, trying to find the satellite.  I find it very interesting that a change in age, a child and two adults, could cause such large differences in opinion.  I believe my grandparents weren't as concerned because they were older and more mature at the time.