Memorial Day - More Than Burgers n' Beer

Photo by Tom Uhlman

In the midst of trying to decide whether or not we'd like our burgers medium rare or with cheese; decisions between Corona (my drink of choice today) or Budweiser, or shopping on sale at Macy's or Bloomies; I thought I'd take a moment to really thank all the people who have lost their lives to defend our country. I can only hope to ever have that kind of commitment about anything in my life.



Regardless of your feelings about this war or any other war ever fought by this country; despite some people's feelings about the military and the mind-set that one might generalize with soldiers and the strong arm of the goverment; you can't help but hand it to people who are getting up off their ass, putting on their helmet, and going off to battle - knowing there's a damn good chance that they might not return alive.

And also regardless of what you think, they're doing it for YOU. The government says they are doing it for their country, the soldiers think they're doing it for their country; and for some of us who are jaded about it all, we let our frustration become apathy towards the men and women who are sitting in tents waiting to get blown to bits in some far off country. But, honestly, they are doing it for us.



Some of us may want to drag these boys home kicking and screaming - especially the ones who, bless their hearts, are so gung ho they aren't thinking about the fact that it's clearly an object of sisyphus and we will never eradicate terrorism entirely, and want to sign on for a second or third tour. Personally, I think anyone in their right mind can only agree that it's time for everyone to come home, period. The number of casualties are growing every day.

But, I digress. That's a whole other rant.

What I want to say is that I, personally, thank these soldiers who have given their lives, and hope the other ones out there come back in one piece. I can barely handle work, four pets, a semi-creative life and balancing a checkbook (uh, wait, scratch the checkbook part). Some days I have trouble getting out of bed. The idea of running off to another country to put myself in the line of fire for a country full of people, many of whom forget I'm even fighting over there what with their job stress, children or lack thereof, and who's winning American Idol, is incredibly foreign to me...

And it makes me sad that my first thought on Friday wasn't about remembering the fallen, but about what I was going to do during my three-day weekend.