Sumthin' from Nuthin'

Pushing yourself to write SOMETHING every day was good while the election was winding down, but now what? Guess I'll have to make some effort now. I really didn't have a plan for today, and since I spent most of the night wrestling with E-Vite to get news out about a party, well...I got nuthin'.

Oh, I did do something today. I was invited to my son's school for a Veteran's Day chorus performance. It was pretty good; several local American Legion bubbas, myself, and a bunch of school kids.

I really didn't want to go at first. I was still very conflicted inside; glad that my candidate won, but in a real way feeling disenfranchised from the party I used to value, and somewhat unsure of what lies ahead in the coming years for myself, my profession, and my service. But I felt I needed to go; things like this are important and a big part of my job is outreach.

Waiting for things to start, the principal asked me if I wanted to say a few words when things started. I said sure, if I knew what I was going to say, and he said just talk about these vets here and what they mean. Fortunately, things were running late so I had time to think.

First, I asked all the kids there if they thought yesterday was a special day for America. They all raised their hands and cheered.

I told them that every 4 years we have a very special day - it's the day when every American who wants to can tell the government "This is what I want us to do."

Now sometimes you get what you want, and sometimes you don't (I could see some of the American Legion vets shifting uncomfortably - you can figure most of them voted McCain) but the important part is you get to do this.

Then I told them that a veteran is someone who says "I believe in this so much that I will defend it, and fight for it if I need to". I told them that because of the veterans that were in front of them, yesterday and every election day like it could happen, and that they should all stand up and show their appreciation.

The applause was deafening; I know kids can be loud, but damn!

The look on the vets' faces was priceless.

Made my day. Made me feel good. Put things in perspective for me as much as them, and I was able to go back to work. And holy crap, amid all this self-back-patting, I found a post.