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This is an idiotic statement......haven't read the numerous pages of responses but your "offer your own and suit up" mantra is ridiculous - It would discount anyone middle aged or elderly (or young children for that matter) from thanking a veteran for his service to the country. It would also leave out anyone disabled, handicapped, etc. from expressing their gratitude.
Then you could safely assume I wasn't referring to any of those people.
I don't randomly thank vets or anyone else I see in uniform for their service because I don't know what they did/do while in it and I don't know what kind of person they are. Joining the military doesn't make you Mother Teresa by default.
I know we're conditioned to be grateful that someone went to war instead of us or could possibly have to risk their lives instead of us regardless of anything else, but I have difficulty with that last part - with tunnel vision and things said so blindly so often that they don't even mean anything anymore.
How many people do you see thanking police officers and firefighters for their service? Few if any because that's not a part of our programming. Police officers die all the time in the line of duty trying to protect someone or the community or themselves and have the privilege of being looked down on thanks to fellow officers who abuse their authority.
Firefighters risk their lives to get people out, not for any complicated ideals, but because life is worth saving. They die in fires where there wasn't even anyone to save, they were just trying to keep it from spreading, to make sure that there wouldn't be someone who'd need saving. Hell, forget lives, they'll stand there all night trying to save your darn house.
When I thank someone, it's because I know them, I know their story, and I'm grateful - truly grateful. Not because it's "what you say when you see them". If I'm not inclined to thank everyone who puts themselves in harm's way for me or the idea of me in spite of not knowing anything else about them, I'm not going to single anyone out for the privilege.
For all I know, all they did in the service was rape and murder innocent civilians for fun. Not saying that's pandemic in the military, just saying that sort of thing matters to me - the thought that I could walk up to someone and unwittingly be thanking them for that.
This is an idiotic statement......haven't read the numerous pages of responses but your "offer your own and suit up" mantra is ridiculous - It would discount anyone middle aged or elderly (or young children for that matter) from thanking a veteran for his service to the country. It would also leave out anyone disabled, handicapped, etc. from expressing their gratitude.
Yeah, well it wouldn't discount Sean Hannity, whose "thank you" always seems perfunctory, and makes me want to tell him to shut up and then ask where the hell he was during any war, anyway.
OK. I agree with the part about about not thanking people you don't know because you don't know what they've done. That LEO could be a scumbag who collects money from business owners for protection. I don't know if that fireman didn't clear all of the rooms in a house because he might have gotten injured or died.
I don't thank individuals; I do something every one in a while. Last month I anonymously sent two large pizzas, three toppings, their choice, to the firehouse. When I lived near one, I volunteered at a VA nursing home. I've put in plenty of hours working with the American Legion. I've given time and cash to the local PD.
No one, ever, EVER!, has thanked me for being a military wife. "Say bye bye to daddy, honey", and when he comes home he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. PTSD, caused by many types of negative experiences, is a beast.
Thanks to all of you women and men who have had to deal with that mess. You're the glue, the green tape, which holds the world together.
Here's my personal experience. I served 8 years in the Navy and served in Desert Shield and Bosnia. What did I personally do in the Navy? I worked in the engine room of a steam driven Navy ship. I kept the engines, generators, and water distilling plant running. While not as dangerous as being on the ground in combat, we did have ten sailors killed in a steam leak in the fire room (aka boiler room). This was the USS Iwo Jima LPH-2 and it happened in October 1990. On the same ship in 1992 there was an accident on the flight deck and a sailor who was a few years away from retiring was killed. Some who served on the ship cut hair, cooked food, ran the ship's store, operated the ship's laundry, or filed paperwork. You thanking us for our service can make some of us feel bad or uncomfortable. You're thanking us as if we served some Hollywood movie version of military service and yet we feel we just did a dull boring job. There were some things we did that were dangerous or involved combat (getting the ship to a location for an operation), but these were brief moments. Vast majority of our time was very dull boring routine interrupted by periods of fire fighting drills and other operational drills on the ship. If you meet a firefighter, do you thank them for their service or do you thank them when they've rescued you, your family, and or your friends/neighbors? It's easy to accept a thank you for doing a particular service. Why are you thanking me? What did I do for you? Do you know what I did in the military? For all you know, I could have been the biggest jerk and a worthless dirtbag of a soldier/sailor/airman/marine. Thanks for what,...not getting killed? I directly help people all the time on my job at the hospital. People thank me for fixing their AC, fixing their bed, getting them out of elevators, helping them find their way around the hospital, and doing other things. But thanking me for my service in the Navy feels hollow.
What an outstanding post. I admire honesty and I can tell this comes from the heart of someone who actually served.
Count me in as one who is not into excessive military worship, especially in recent years when service people came back after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sports arena's parade them out as a special guest and expect everyone to take part in a group salute. No offence but I want to know exactly what they did. I am in the minority with that view because almost everyone else participates in sometimes very long and drawn out salutes.
Many innocent families were maimed and killed by trigger happy servicemen when they first went in. I'm not a guilty before proven innocent type and I do not think all were like that. But at the same time I want to know why I am expected to assume everyone who served actually did something beneficial for our country and worthy of over the top praise.
There are jerks in every profession. There are crooked policemen who pocket cash they find on raids. There are crooked firemen who steal valuables from homes they're in. There are crooked paramedics who steal jewelry from accident victims. There are sorry trash collectors who damage a vehicle in the street and don't tell anyone. There are sorry mail carriers who leave packages out in the rain rather than take three more steps and put them under the awning.
And there are bad soldiers who have abused their power in some way in a combat situation.
However, all of the above are in the minority and generally speaking, each group deserves our appreciation. I don't NOT thank my very good mail carrier just because she might have left someone else's package out in the rain somewhere, some time. I don't NOT respect police officers because he MIGHT be crooked. I don't suspect every fireman of stealing valuables from homes just because it might have happened somewhere at some time.
And I don't suspect every soldier I meet of poor behavior in a combat situation. I would never withhold my appreciation for anyone serving in any of those positions just because there are a few jerks in those fields. I'm going to err on the side of general appreciation and respect for what they do and show that respect in my dealings with them.
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