I have that right for the same reason that we are not all speaking German, Japanese and Italian the world over. I have the right to freedom of speech and association & thought because when the liberty and freedom of the world was threatened, some people who didn't think it was right to hide their head in the sand and let injustice steam-roller over them took a stand. They drew a line and, like Gandalf the Grey, said "you shall not pass". Then proceeded to do 'Whatever It Took' to ensure that a stop was put to those that would trample the world & its people under foot. They were people of a different time & they had different values ...
Today, we wouldn't stop Hitler because society would be too busy trying to coddle and console him for all of the circumstances that led him to "act out" ... Oh, Wait! That is what the leaders of Europe did ... until it became obvious that he was out to destroy the world. Until we had to take a stand and lay down many lives to bitch-slap him and his buddies back to reality.
Fast Forward
Mid to late sixties, school children are taught that there was a war and evil and death walked among us. The brave soldiers went to fight the wave of evil; many died and in the end "We Won". Our way of life was preserved & although the cost was unthinkable ... the freedom and liberty we enjoyed was ultimately worth the sacrifice. On November 11th, the anniversary of the armistice of the first great war we would honour the fallen and the survivors of all the wars. We would mark a day of remembrance! The children memorized a poem about poppies in a field in Flanders ... (it is more than a Simpson's character) ... and little Plastic poppies are sold to help fund veterans and to quote the Royal Canadian Legion " Since 1921, the Poppy has stood as a symbol of Remembrance, our visual pledge to never forget all those Canadians who have fallen in war and military operations. " Schools, businesses and government would take the day off and remember ... Because IF WE EVER FORGET we might have to learn that very costly lesson all over again.
Fast Forward
Mid seventies, school will maybe take a moment of silence, if the teacher isn't too busy, or high, to spare a though. Business are inconvenienced by having to stay closed half a day ... and people who are anti-war actually have the audacity to spit at veterans. After all, we don't remember what it was like to ration ... for the cause ... because somewhere along the way we started to believe that "The Man" is evil and whatever I/WE want is fine and there is no reason for me/us to go without. - The cracks are becoming noticeable. Public schools pay lip-service to Remembrance Day ... but the meaning and the memory is slipping away as the first generation dies and as tv replaces reality with mindless moving pictures spit out like a teen-aged boy's wad in the faces of the masses. And the news ... starts to bend the truth for ratings.
Fast Forward
The Eighties ... if I could remember it I'd talk about how the slow erosion steadily picked up momentum, but I self-medicated and just watched from behind empty soul-less eyes. A husk of the boy I had been decaying into drug-induced apathy. Not unlike many of those around me. The decay of morality, values and honour continued ... fractured families produced generation after generation of selfish bastards all addicted to something either chemical or worse - instant gratification!!!! Remembrance Day is televised and I see fewer and fewer ... increasingly frail veterans ... My heart, what is left of it, breaks as I realize that they are dying off. Taking with them the memory of the horror - the horror that is WAR! If they don't share that knowledge, these video-game addicts will start to believe that we all have three lives and that there are "extra" lives to be found along the way. They will start to think that you can shoot a guy and he will regenerate later in the game. Because they will not be mentally capable of conceiving of that guy who was beside you a moment ago ... he took one in the head. And that wet red splatter that is running down the side of your face is his brains and blood and bits of his skull ... He is not coming back; and the last thing you said to him will FOREVER be the last words you said to him - period. Remembrance Day ... is a good day for business because the shops are open and the highly paid government employees are off work. If you're lucky, your boss will give you the day off - maybe half a day. After all, it is just another day and there is work to do.
Fast Forward
The nineties ... I Remember ... --- ... Croatia, Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. They called it Peace Keeping ... newsflash, you only need peacekeepers if you have something that looks a lot like the horrors of WAR. Some would say - but those guys are not veterans - but would those same intellectual giants care to step up and experience what was seen by those who went "Over There"? They are no less veterans than the WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam vets. Maybe you were too busy to notice but war didn't take a holiday. And we are so proud that we had a reputation as peacekeepers but some might say sending a soldier into a field of operation / conflict and telling him he cannot do "whatever it takes" to make it stop is cruel ... inhuman ... unconscionable. And when they come back all f-d up you cannot understand because you honestly believe that there is a difference. It ain't all rainbows, unicornsand butterflies. If it was easy, industry would go do the job and exploit everyone to make a profit in the process. No they are soldiers; their job is to HOLD THE LINE. Their job is to step into harm's path and say "You Shall Not Pass" ... We ask them to do this job and on November 11th We Remember - it is called Remembrance Day.
Fast Forward
It is a new millennium ! A quiet stirring as the last of or WW1 veterans dies off. It may just become fashionable to remember ... Some of us shake our heads. What is it you want to remember? Them??? The Stories??? The HORROR?????? Okay, we'll take what little we can get. As long as they Remember; to quote Martha Stewart, "that's a good thing". Slowly but surely the Remembrance Day ceremonies start to become more ... important. We put them on tv. They are not important enough to insist that nobody works, but we can give the rich the day off. We can put on a good show ... for the masses, as long as the ratings are there. After all we must watch the bottom line. [teach your children well] I Remember ... --- ... Macedonia, Kosovo, Croatia, Lybia, Afghanistan, Iraq in the Persian Gulf and more ... yes more. They step up when they are needed; unconditionally. Imagine that ...
Are We There Yet? Have we arrived at today?
If you have read this far, you will reap the benefits of understanding what this is all about. Today I needed a poppy for my lapel. You see mine was on my leather jacket, has been for a week, but I was wearing a suit. Today I needed a poppy and I was at the Rideau Center - the largest retail destination in all of downtown Ottawa. So I went looking, and you'll never guess what I discovered.
When I was a child, you couldn't go into a store at this time of year and not see a poppy box. Drop in a coin and take a poppy. No Cash, no problem, take a poppy and donate to the legion when you can. It was important to show your gratitude and respect for the price/sacrifice by a simple display. I WEAR MY POPPY ON REMEMBRANCE DAY ! I do it because I was taught to do that. I cannot personally thank the men who bled out on Juno beach that day ... or at Passchendaele ... or in countless other conflicts that I have not managed to name. I cannot thank the mothers for letting their sons go off to fight and die unspeakable deaths on far-off shores ... but I can wear a small plastic poppy. If I could find one. And today I passed by many many stores that did NOT have a box of poppies at their cashes ... and I was annoyed. Because those f-ers want my money ... want your money ... want to enjoy all the perks and benefits of the freedom and liberty, but they don't want to risk losing a few cents to a Poppy-Drive box at their point of sale.
I found a poppy; it took more than half a kilometer but I found a poppy. I put my coffee down on a kiosk in the mall to pin it to my lapel and some harried shop-keeper (who is too cheap to pay full rent for a shop) came scurrying over to insist that I not put my coffee there ... Move it right away ... I lifted it and placed it on the floor at my feet while I told her that she didn't have enough inventory that I couldn't replace it ALL were I to have an accident. ... FFS! It takes less than 4 seconds to pin a poppy to your lapel ... unless you have to stop to relocate a coffee; then it takes eight.
I guess it is all about priorities. Today, mine was to get a poppy and show some respect and gratitude. It takes looking for a poppy to realize that I will not be spending much money at the Rideau Center any time soon. After all, If you're not wearing and selling poppies. how do I know that you are not secretly plotting against my freedom and liberty? Or worse ... ?
