Posts Tagged ‘begging for the troops’

My son has been out of state.  He is on his way home.  He stops at rest stops and had to call me yesterday from one, sputtering with fury.

In front of the main section of parking in the rest stop, a young man stood with a sign.  A man in maybe his 30’s.  His sign said “Disabled Navy Veteran – please help.”  He didn’t approach people, he simply stood.  Cars pulled in to park in front of him.  Cars with yellow ribbons stuck on them with the cheesy over-done “support the troops” message.

And those cars paused, engine running, and then pulled back OUT and moved down the long lot to park further away from the Navy veteran forced into public begging by this nation’s abyssmal record of “supporting” its thrown-away, used and abused troops.

All of you asshats who can’t pony up a bit of change and who don’t even have the guts to face this man and at least say “Sorry, strapped and tapped, can’t help…but thank you for serving and sorry for your troubles.” can go fuck yourselves, ok?

And no, do not give me any bullshit about “Well, he probably is lying and not a vet.” or “Well, he’d just use it to drink or drug.”   Because this old Kantian bitch will tell you—it isn’t about what that down and out man would do or why he does it.  It is about what YOU do or do not do; error on the side of generosity and righteousness.  Or, if I see you doing the nothing you do, I may just shove that magnetic yellow ribbon up your ass.

….for the Fisher House!  This month is almost the cruelest of the year, round here, financially.  Property taxes are due, insurance on the house is due….grocery costs are sky-rocketing and I have a vet visit to pay for on its way.

But, it occurred to me, if it is hard for us, it must surely be harder for military families trying to cope with being the loved ones of any of the over 29,000 wounded men and women sent back from this war.  Fisher House alleviates some of that dire tension and fear in so many ways, and unlike other “help the troops charities” that enrich their so-called founders, Fish House actually spends at least 90 cents of each dollar on the troops and their families.

So, dear readers, the Fisher House block you see to the left will take you to a donation page.  Please, please….any two or three or five of you, please match my $50 for April.  I believe in a particular kind of magic—the kind where the kindness you sow upon others comes back to you when you need it most.  We are all struggling presently in an exhausted economy, lets struggle together and remember some of the most vulnerable, ok?