One of my sons serves in the military. He is still stateside, here in California. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him and his troops everywhere he goes, telling me how people shake their hands and thank them for being willing to serve and fight for not only our own freedoms, but so that others may have them also.
But he also told me about an incident in the grocery store he stopped at yesterday on his way home from the base. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha.
He said when she got to the cashier she loudly remarked about the U.S. flag lapel pin the cashier wore on her smock. The cashier reached up and touched the pin, and said proudly, “Yes, I always wear it and probably always will.”
The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi.
A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward.
Putting his arm around my son’s shoulders and nodding towards my son, he said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman:
“Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have
fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a
check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen. It is my belief that had you
been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn’t need to be there today.
fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a
check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen. It is my belief that had you
been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn’t need to be there today.
But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly,
I’ll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can
straighten out the mess in YOUR country that you are obviously here in MY
country to avoid.”
I’ll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can
straighten out the mess in YOUR country that you are obviously here in MY
country to avoid.”
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