Saturday, April 21, 2007

So, I'm whiny??? riiiiiiggghhttt....

On another blog http://blogs.tampabay.com/standingby/, I have been told that I am being "whiny". Well, sweetie, if you tell me I'm whining, I'M JUST NOT YELLING LOUD ENOUGH!

What we were discussing, was the discrepancy between the avalanche of coverage of the horrors of VTech, and the total and complete lack of coverage of the deaths of local soldiers... None of us are trying to minimize what happened at V. Tech and how truly horrendous it was, or minimize the pain that those family members are going through, or the horrors that those poor witnesses lived through. BUT the topic was were the sacrifices of the military being treated with less respect.

At that point, it somehow segued into the suppositions of some of the commentors that we military families were whining, when we asked for recognition or discounts or acknowledgment. That we should "suck it up". That our soldiers had, after all volunteered, and that if we didn't want to live that life, that we should not have married them... They shouldn't have joined up for training, or National Guard tuition assistance, they should have gotten grants, or second jobs..... We are whining, after all it's not THAT bad! We are getting paid by the taxpayers... blah blah blah.

Well, folks, don't tell me I'm whining, tell me TURN IT UP! I just went to a reintegration seminar, and talked to a few other deployed military spouses. They agreed... We aren't whining, we are trying to remind the rest of you that we are here . My husband's relatives don't seem to remember that he is in the Sand. And the rest of the State seems to have forgotten us as well.

When you forget that they are there, when you treat the wounded with the callous disregard we saw at Walter Reed, I start yelling. When the rest of the country spends more time worrying about who is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby, than the soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the families back here, I start yelling. When the media would rather show more and more clips and pictures of Cho, than make note of a soldier's funeral that day, I start yelling. When we are forced to send troops back to Iraq after less than a year at home, and no one cares, I start yelling. And as for those damned discounts... at least in this State, they are few and far between! If a business wants to use the military discount as an advertisement, which they do, then I'll ask for it. If that's whining... fine. Ya don't like it, don't read this, don't listen. and in the words of many great philosophers of my aquaintance... bite me!

LAW

7 comments:

RTO Trainer said...

Damn straight!

The only time you see coverage of the Guard is when we are leaving or coming home and just maybe if someone gets killed.

While we're gone it's like we don't exist.

Keep yelling!

Aunty Pol said...

You and I may disagree about a lot of things, but I have never thought of you or what you have written but being anything but right on target. I may not understand all the ins and outs but I support your right to say them.

Susan said...

Amen, hon. Say it loud, say it clear!

Politics of a Patriot said...

I couldn't agree more. Especially during all the hubub of the Anna Nicole Smith case. It is saddening that our nation has reached the point we care more about a former Playboy model than about our true heroes (our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines).

I work here on base for a wireless company and today I had a Major and his wife approach me. The wife began asking questions, saying that she had been with our company for two years and asking about upgrades, etc. I make it a point to ask existing customers if they are receiving the military discount. Her husband said, "We didn't know there was a discount." They were slightly upset that they bought their phones on another military installation and had been faithfully paying their bill for 2 1/2 years and no one ever mentioned any of the various military discounts or other discounts they were eligible for. It is not costing us any money, but I even find my coworkers not bothering to mention to customers how they get military discounts for this and that and what they have to do to receive them. They just don't care enough to take the time to tell them. I know it may seem trivial, but it's something so simple and something so appreciated.

It's not whiney, LAW. Y'all deserve even more.

Anonymous said...

Well written. I was thinking this myself last week and I don't have any family members in Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet.

Liberal Military Spouse said...

THANK YOU!!!!!!! As the wife of a National Guardsman, about to be deployed to the sand, I applaud you so much!!!! Please keep yelling! I feel invisible - it's bad enough I don't support the war, but as a NG family, we are treated like we don't exist at the active duty posts, our neighbors have no clue what we are going through and my kids are a wreck -
thank you
keep yelling

Anonymous said...

LAW, Sorry I'm a little behind. Just getting around to checking up all my favorite blogs. Just wanted to say your input is always appreciated, and I thank you for standing up for us military spouses.