We have all seen it. Occupy This, Occupy That. It is in every newspaper, on every channel and all over the internet. What follows is my opinion. You can like it, you can love it, or you can agree to disagree.
Here is my take: Call whine-one-one, someone needs a waahmbulance. This is my story, I can be as immature as I want. I may even throw in a neener neener at some point.
I agree our economy has gone to crap. Our country is divided. And who, exactly, is surprised by this? This is not news. We were divided over slavery. Over equal rights for women. Over abortion. Over global warming. We have always, and will always have, something to separate the masses.
We, as a country, do need a change. We can blame it on Wall Street. We can blame it on the President. We can blame it on the Donkeys and Elephants. The Haves. The Have Nots. Or we can fix our OWN lives. Yes, someone has more money than me. Maybe he worked harder, invested smarter. Or maybe he is smart enough not spend his annual salary on shoes. (Even if they are really, really cute shoes.) What I am trying to get at is, if we want change, why are we working against ourselves?
It seems rather simple to me. If I want to improve MY economy, I don’t ditch work, call in sick, or quit my job to go sit on the street and complain that someone has more money than me. I know it is not as simple as that, but you know me, I can reduce the war in Iraq to bullies and Legos.
There are complaints about taxes. And those complaints will never go away. But I am slightly curious as to why we have people occupying the streets to protest the economy and taxes. Do the not see that they are creating a vicious circle? Sit, complain, riot (I know, not in all cases), draw large crowds of upset people. Then what happens? Our already strained system has to pay overtime to police officers to attempt to maintain peace. Our businesses suffer because there is no one working the drive thru at Burger King to sell the Whoppers. Because he is on the street complaining that someone has more money than him.
I will never pretend to understand any of this. And don’t try to explain it to me. As I watch, the only change I see is people’s view of our country. The morale sinking. People complaining they have no reason to love this country anymore. Their pride gone.
Well, THIS I can fix. I can give you back that pride. Go to an airport, find the USO and see a soldier, clinging to his family, waiting to reboard and head back to war. Find out when a flight of returning soldiers is coming in, and sit there and just watch the faces of the families waiting. Watch the faces of everyone there when the banging on the door begins, the fake smoke comes out, and Springsteen starts blaring from the speakers.
Go to a school and watch mom or dad coming home and surprising their children. Heck, you can Google that and see as many as you can stand to watch. While you are Googling, look up The Fallen Soldier’s Table.
Ask the small child of a soldier when holidays are. We all know Christmas is December 25th. But for many military families, it falls on a different day. When mom comes home for R&R. When dad is not on patrol and has a minute to open presents via Skype. For instance, last year, we celebrated Chranksgiving. The first week of December was the only time we could assemble most of the family and so we combined the holidays into one.
And if you ever thought it was impossible to cry with pride, do this one thing. Watch a Fallen Soldier as he comes home. The streets, lined with people. Children waving flags. Police directing traffic, although they don’t need to because everyone stops to watch. Other soldiers saluting their fallen friend, while trying to hide their tears. Military spouses, there to comfort each other, friends they have never met. Strangers saluting, crying, waving, cheering for this amazing, courageous person.
The U.S. military has been called the nation’s largest legalized gang. Spend some time with a Veteran. Of any war. Listen to his stories. My grandfather is a Lieutenant Colonel (retired), who served in the Army Air Corps. He is in his late 80’s and can recite names and ranks of those he flew with, those he lost and those who made it through. And he will tell you, it is not the nation’s largest gang. It is the nation’s largest family.
Next time you want to play hooky and occupy some place, occupy a VA hospital. Occupy the Disabled Veteran’s Association. Occupy the USO. Since you have that time to spare, go occupy someplace where you can make someone smile. Someplace where you really can make a difference. Someplace that makes you wonder why you ever questioned your pride in this country, and reiterates your pride in yourself.
Pick your battles wisely. Fight them effectively.
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
I dig it.