Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Fishing for Soldiers

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My 15-year-old Godson came over after school to work in my shop. (I'm still dealing with that massive wholesale order from before Thanksgiving...darn thing is almost ready to ship!) In the process of packing 66 kits (of 250), the boy had MTV on - something I don't really watch. I stopped watching cause everytime I tuned in there was NO music. And today, the shows were all on minor celebrities and how they live. (MENTAL NOTE: #2 Question for God: How do you decide who you give too much money to??)

OK - the shows were mindless enough and not distracting while we were packing but the thing that astounded me was that the commercials were SO LOUD. And many of them were for the military. Each one tried to really make it sound cool. Not like hard work or something you could get killed doing.

Mind you, I come from a long line of military heroes and to this day, I cannot meet a veteran of any age that I don't get a lump in my thoat and try to find some way to shake his / her hand and thank them for their service.

But maybe, it's this war and this president that makes these commercials seem so vile to me. As it is, my boy already has a rather dangerous career in mind. He wants to be a helicopter pilot for the fire department. He goes out for Fire Explorer every year even though he is too young and knows he'll be cut. He's hoping that his face will be so familiar when he is 16 that they will just sign him up on the spot. I shiver at the very thought of him fighting a fire, much less flying a helicopter into a raging inferno.

But for now, he's still my boy. His face has not changed since he was about 4 months old. And when I look at him, he is no longer 6' tall. He's just a wee boy that I can make laugh so hard, he falls over. And no matter how much taller he gets (a doctor in Hungary predicted 6'6" when he was still in utero!), he will always be that little boy to me. And I really wish the Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines & Coast Guard would fish in other waters.

4 comments:

Sunflower Optimism said...

I hate those commercials also. They are as bad as the cigarette companies, portraying a grand life without mention of the pain and suffering that may result. I flip out whenever I see them.

My son's best friend wanted to join the Army after graduating HS last year. My son and other boys did their best to talk him out of it. He is now in a community college and enjoying that.

I have nothing but respect for our soldiers and what they do - but this war is wrong on so many levels and right now our precious children are just so much cannon fodder. They don't have a chance because there is no plan and they are fighting a war that is unlike anything we are prepared for.

Oh, did I mention, don't get me started!

May your godson stay safe in whatever he does. Trust me, I know about being worried about kids - they are going to go out and do what they want and you can only pray.

Anonymous said...

This is a subject that Hubby knows better than to get me started on! It pushes every button I have. I know exactly how you feel....as I had those same feelings regarding MY son when he was younger.

Dr.John said...

I think those commercials come pretty close to violating truth in advertising laws. somebody should sue. Thanks for your comment on my blog.

Linda@VS said...

I don't know how many of you saw Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," but if you did, I'm sure you remember how the Marine recruiters "courted" potential enlistees. That scene creeped me out because it was EXACTLY the way they treated my daughter's stepson--practically holding his hand and sweet-talking all the way--until he signed up. Coincidentally, he signed up before his high school graduation and BEFORE war was declared on Iraq.

He's an MP and hasn't had to go into battle yet, but we're sweating the president's announcement tonight.