Ribbons on Cars
Today my spouse and I went shopping for biking gear. He's the biker, I go along as the fashion consultant. We were looking for glove liners, and happily, one of our local stores had them, along with Tilley hats, silk undershirts, and good wool socks.
The store also carries magnetic ribbons for cars. I saw a variety of them: the yellow one with " we support our troops"; a black one with " POW/MIAs: We won't forget"; and one that grabbed my attention: a khaki camoflague one that says "Support our Troops." I liked that one the most because I hadn't seen it before, and because it would match our car, which is a metalic driftwood color.
While we were standing in line to pay the cashier, a woman and her son struck up a conversation about getting one of the ribbons. She asked her son if she should get one, and he replied, "Yeah, sure..it's your car." I turned around looked at them and commented that I thought these were cool. She said yea, I want to show my support. My son's about to leave." And I replied, " Wow." He replied, "Well, it's my turn." Then I asked him, " you are going all the way over there?", meaning Iraq. He said, "Yeah, where else?" And I said, I wish you well and hope you don't have to stay long." He said, "Year and a half."
I thought my fellow blogger Tamara as her son has to go to Iraq next summer. This young man near me wasn't more than 20 years old. I wanted to ask him what he would be doing over there, but they signaled they didn't want to chat with others. He wanted to be in mother's company more than talking with a stranger. I didn't blame them a bit.
I turned back around and made my purchases. Inside, I was feeling sad, mainly because I didn't want him to go. I wondered if he would come back. I thought about if he did come back, what would his attitude be like? Losing the innocence of youth I suppose by having a war forced on him that he had nothing to do with.
However, I admired him for his resolve. I think I admired his mother most of all, who didn't show pride or sadness, or any kind of emotion. Maybe I absorbed all of her feelings.
I do support our troops. More important, I want the insanity of the war to end not to send any more young men and women because of blinders on the horsemen of the apocolyse who run through our executive buildings in DC.
With a tear in my eye, I put the ribbon on my car, and I said to myself, " good luck soldier..and be safe."
The store also carries magnetic ribbons for cars. I saw a variety of them: the yellow one with " we support our troops"; a black one with " POW/MIAs: We won't forget"; and one that grabbed my attention: a khaki camoflague one that says "Support our Troops." I liked that one the most because I hadn't seen it before, and because it would match our car, which is a metalic driftwood color.
While we were standing in line to pay the cashier, a woman and her son struck up a conversation about getting one of the ribbons. She asked her son if she should get one, and he replied, "Yeah, sure..it's your car." I turned around looked at them and commented that I thought these were cool. She said yea, I want to show my support. My son's about to leave." And I replied, " Wow." He replied, "Well, it's my turn." Then I asked him, " you are going all the way over there?", meaning Iraq. He said, "Yeah, where else?" And I said, I wish you well and hope you don't have to stay long." He said, "Year and a half."
I thought my fellow blogger Tamara as her son has to go to Iraq next summer. This young man near me wasn't more than 20 years old. I wanted to ask him what he would be doing over there, but they signaled they didn't want to chat with others. He wanted to be in mother's company more than talking with a stranger. I didn't blame them a bit.
I turned back around and made my purchases. Inside, I was feeling sad, mainly because I didn't want him to go. I wondered if he would come back. I thought about if he did come back, what would his attitude be like? Losing the innocence of youth I suppose by having a war forced on him that he had nothing to do with.
However, I admired him for his resolve. I think I admired his mother most of all, who didn't show pride or sadness, or any kind of emotion. Maybe I absorbed all of her feelings.
I do support our troops. More important, I want the insanity of the war to end not to send any more young men and women because of blinders on the horsemen of the apocolyse who run through our executive buildings in DC.
With a tear in my eye, I put the ribbon on my car, and I said to myself, " good luck soldier..and be safe."
posted by benny06 at
Saturday, December 04, 2004
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