Ignorance is Bliss
You know, it never fails to amaze me how many Americans are still apathetic to what's going on with our government, the current administration and the death of over 3, 500 of our own troops, not to mention countless innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I would think the majority of the public would agree that "the war" isn't new news on the television, on the radio, on the internet or any other media format. My daughter, who is now six months old, has never known a nation at peace. While it may not get the main coverage on the nightly news, to presume that is has discontinued it's ferocity is simply naive. I would also venture a guess that anytime, admist the normalcy of daily converse with my friends and the like, thoughts about the war would not be considered "random" in any realm. It's the reality of our nations current state of affairs, the reality for thousands of dependants whose spouses have been deployed two and three times, the reality for hundreds of children who haven't seen their parent in months, or haven't seen them since they were born. To pretend like this isn't in existence for so many Americans is apathy at it's finest. It disgusts me, right down to my very dinner table, where I share meals with my husband, who so proudly defends his country in his capacity as a US Coast Guardsman.
And while this very posting may seem totally "random", it is not. The general disregard I speak of was so blatantly shoved under my nose last night that I couldn't hear anything else in my mind, the screaming was so loud. When it's that loud, it's got to come out.
There I was, practicing the fine art of escapism in our current choice of fantasy based MMORPG with a few new acquaintances. While we play, we utilize a VOIP application that allows us to chat with mircophones and save our fingers the many keystrokes that carpal tunnel syndrome so desires. We were at the end of our evening's alloted play time and were about to sign off for the night. Right before I left, I was perusing a few of the choice blogs I read daily and came across the following tidbit: If one were to observe ONE minute of silence for every life lost on 9/11 and Iraq, one would NOT SPEAK for ONE YEAR and FOUR MONTHS. I was so shocked by the gravity of those numbers that I felt compelled to share it over the VOIP application with my cohorts, blindly thinking that they too would be jarred at the statistic. Not the case.
The first reply I was met with was, "Random much?"
Anyone who knows me would probably agree that that particular comment wasn't the best one to direct my way. The red hair immediately caught on fire and skipped slow simmer and went toute-suite to full steam ahead. In no particular order, the following diatribe ensued:
Firstly, it's not random at all. It's on the prime time news nightly and the death of the soldiers who are defending the very freedom you are so blatantly enjoying this fine evening is hard to miss. The retaliation was, "I don't have/watch TV." Oh, so that's a valid reason to be blind to current events suddenly?! Wow, news flash there. I didn't realize that the only media available to get your news from was the TV. I wonder if this another casualty of FOX news.
The topic on the VOIP application rapidly changed to in-game chatter, and I decided to keep the peace and bow out gracefully. Afterwards is when I lost my cool. Russ, the poor soul, was the brunt of my ensuing rant.
He said to me, "Why do you let it get to you?" And my reply still stands: How do I not? How do I continue a conversation with someone who by either choice or ignorance decides to not take notice of the people dying so he can sit there and play a video game nightly with naught a care in the world? How do I even have a friendship with someone like that? For that matter, they barely acknowledge the fact that my husband is a member of the US military and took a vow to uphold freedom and the Constitution and all the flag stands for. He gave up the rights that our many civilians have in the interest of serving his country. He does so with pride, willingness, devotion to duty and country, and above all, a dash of tenacity, good humor and above all, hope and faith. Are you waving a flag yet? You should be and shame on you if you're not.
Of course, he too heard all the same spewing from my mouth while my red hair fanned the flames. He then said a very profound thing to me that made me pause in thought.
"Anyone can wave a flag, Danielle."
"What?"
"Anyone can go out and wave a flag."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"It means that anyone can go out there and look patriotic. But it's the people like X (he shall remain nameless) that should spend the most time trying to educate. He needs you the most. Stay loud and proud and continue the fight. "
It's a worthy cause.
"Besides, he's from Texas; he supports the Bush administration."
What?!?! Who the hell cares where he's from?! Why does that even matter? I didn't ask anyone their feelings on the administration; I didn't take Bush to task for war crimes, I didn't say one damn thing about politics. All I said was, "Hey, take a look at the enormity of these numbers." And I felt like I got a huge, "F** you lady, and the flag bearing horse you rode in on."
What the hell is the matter with this society when you ask them to pay homage to their fallen soldiers and they meet you with, " I don't watch TV".....?!?!?! What IS that?
It's apathy, straight up, no twist, stirred and shaken, that's what.
Scary. Just scary.
I would think the majority of the public would agree that "the war" isn't new news on the television, on the radio, on the internet or any other media format. My daughter, who is now six months old, has never known a nation at peace. While it may not get the main coverage on the nightly news, to presume that is has discontinued it's ferocity is simply naive. I would also venture a guess that anytime, admist the normalcy of daily converse with my friends and the like, thoughts about the war would not be considered "random" in any realm. It's the reality of our nations current state of affairs, the reality for thousands of dependants whose spouses have been deployed two and three times, the reality for hundreds of children who haven't seen their parent in months, or haven't seen them since they were born. To pretend like this isn't in existence for so many Americans is apathy at it's finest. It disgusts me, right down to my very dinner table, where I share meals with my husband, who so proudly defends his country in his capacity as a US Coast Guardsman.
And while this very posting may seem totally "random", it is not. The general disregard I speak of was so blatantly shoved under my nose last night that I couldn't hear anything else in my mind, the screaming was so loud. When it's that loud, it's got to come out.
There I was, practicing the fine art of escapism in our current choice of fantasy based MMORPG with a few new acquaintances. While we play, we utilize a VOIP application that allows us to chat with mircophones and save our fingers the many keystrokes that carpal tunnel syndrome so desires. We were at the end of our evening's alloted play time and were about to sign off for the night. Right before I left, I was perusing a few of the choice blogs I read daily and came across the following tidbit: If one were to observe ONE minute of silence for every life lost on 9/11 and Iraq, one would NOT SPEAK for ONE YEAR and FOUR MONTHS. I was so shocked by the gravity of those numbers that I felt compelled to share it over the VOIP application with my cohorts, blindly thinking that they too would be jarred at the statistic. Not the case.
The first reply I was met with was, "Random much?"
Anyone who knows me would probably agree that that particular comment wasn't the best one to direct my way. The red hair immediately caught on fire and skipped slow simmer and went toute-suite to full steam ahead. In no particular order, the following diatribe ensued:
Firstly, it's not random at all. It's on the prime time news nightly and the death of the soldiers who are defending the very freedom you are so blatantly enjoying this fine evening is hard to miss. The retaliation was, "I don't have/watch TV." Oh, so that's a valid reason to be blind to current events suddenly?! Wow, news flash there. I didn't realize that the only media available to get your news from was the TV. I wonder if this another casualty of FOX news.
The topic on the VOIP application rapidly changed to in-game chatter, and I decided to keep the peace and bow out gracefully. Afterwards is when I lost my cool. Russ, the poor soul, was the brunt of my ensuing rant.
He said to me, "Why do you let it get to you?" And my reply still stands: How do I not? How do I continue a conversation with someone who by either choice or ignorance decides to not take notice of the people dying so he can sit there and play a video game nightly with naught a care in the world? How do I even have a friendship with someone like that? For that matter, they barely acknowledge the fact that my husband is a member of the US military and took a vow to uphold freedom and the Constitution and all the flag stands for. He gave up the rights that our many civilians have in the interest of serving his country. He does so with pride, willingness, devotion to duty and country, and above all, a dash of tenacity, good humor and above all, hope and faith. Are you waving a flag yet? You should be and shame on you if you're not.
Of course, he too heard all the same spewing from my mouth while my red hair fanned the flames. He then said a very profound thing to me that made me pause in thought.
"Anyone can wave a flag, Danielle."
"What?"
"Anyone can go out and wave a flag."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"It means that anyone can go out there and look patriotic. But it's the people like X (he shall remain nameless) that should spend the most time trying to educate. He needs you the most. Stay loud and proud and continue the fight. "
It's a worthy cause.
"Besides, he's from Texas; he supports the Bush administration."
What?!?! Who the hell cares where he's from?! Why does that even matter? I didn't ask anyone their feelings on the administration; I didn't take Bush to task for war crimes, I didn't say one damn thing about politics. All I said was, "Hey, take a look at the enormity of these numbers." And I felt like I got a huge, "F** you lady, and the flag bearing horse you rode in on."
What the hell is the matter with this society when you ask them to pay homage to their fallen soldiers and they meet you with, " I don't watch TV".....?!?!?! What IS that?
It's apathy, straight up, no twist, stirred and shaken, that's what.
Scary. Just scary.