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LATEST SUBMISSIONS

Ticking away

Monday, May 21 at 12:01 AM

This Speakout has not been edited

By Mike ‘Max’ Clow, Colorado Springs

The other day I realized that we tend to adjust our lives to accommodate the things around us that we have to wait for. Not unlike Newton getting hit with the apple, this occurred when I tried out my new $12 dollar toaster.

The old (three household, pre-divorce) toaster oven, that my daughter won’t let me get rid of due to historical significance, toasted quickly but it seemed to use a lot of energy and had printing from a few bread bags melted onto it. I thought a regular toaster would be faster with less area to heat.

I was wrong. It is actually slower but probably does use less energy. Then I realized that affected the sequence in which I make breakfast.

Since I eat about 10 to 15 eggs a week (no carbs) the breakfast routine is not without significance and the start sequence is, of course, crucial. Where I used to start the toast after the eggs, I now must start it just ahead of the eggs, leaving time for a coffee refill. That’s when I realized that I had already adjusted my routine to fit into the new toaster time frame. The extra wait wasn’t annoying or anything. I just adjusted my overall operation, stole one bite of apple pie, tossed the spoon into the sink, and cracked some eggs.

We adjust to other time frames as well. Most of us vary our rates of spending based on the time left until our next pay check. If an unexpected cost comes up, we amend our thinking to make it to that Friday.

Some of us may be unconsciously observing a time frame, for example, until we can get a better car, that might include getting some other things payed off or a kid through college. Some, myself included, find a timeframe involved for when we can pony up for our next half tank of gas.

It’s not unlike making a phone call and being put on hold. If we had the good fortune to talk to an actual human and that person told us it’s going to be a few minutes because the person we’re trying to reach has to be paged, we can adjust and read the paper or a couple blogs. If we are put on hold without explanation or some sort of expectation it quickly becomes unbearable.

Some Americans are in a far more serious hold pattern. For family members of those who have been called to duty in Afghanistan or Iraq they are not only putting much of their life on hold, it has got to be more like holding their breath for 12, or now more like 15 months. They are squeaking through, praying to God, trying not to upset any part of the flow of the universe, for at least the next year. For far too many it will be years before they are able to fully exhale that last breath that was taken when their loved one was alive and there with them.

Those of us who ramble through our daily routines with minor time frame adjustments like traffic jams, long lines at the checkout, and cars stacked up at the carwash on a sunny day, can’t have an inkling of what it’s like to let your dearest loved one go, for at least a long time, hoping it is not forever.

Part of being a soldier and soldiers’ family includes taking those orders in stride without question or complaint because there is no other way. There’s no way they can question a war that has cost the lives of people close to them or even talk about wishing they were going home soon.

Those of us who do not know the grasp of that particular hold pattern have to be the ones to remind Washington that it is not fair to lengthen tours. It is not fair to double and triple deployments. And it is really, really unfair to refuse to talk to other countries, or leaders, or refuse to pursue any and all means to get closer to an end to hostilities.

Those are not the Presidents or Vice Presidents troops. They are Americas’ sons and daughters and brothers and sisters and Fathers and Mothers.

We can not accept arrogance, or stubbornness, or Pride as reasons for failing to find a solution and an end to this War.

We want them back right away.

READER COMMENTS

Gee, Citizen, I guess our boys today are tougher than your uncles, since the Iraq war is now in Month #51 and we spent only 45 months fighting the Japanese. Maybe we should keep them in the field for 90 months, to prove that we're twice as tough as that so-called "Greatest Generation."

Posted by On the Other Hand on May 25, 2007 03:39 PM

The Brave American Soldiers that have vowed to serve our country have applied for this job (enlisted in the Military) because they did so out of thier own FREE WILL! They have been given a job to do by orders of our President. They gladly serve this job in various positions. Let's let them FINISH their job. By doing so maybe this will prevent countless others from having to back and finish it Later. I respect my country and the proud Brave people who serve it. If you think you can do better, do it! Stop telling our congress that you want your sons, daughters , and spouses to do a half done job, just because you are selfish! Instead, pray for the President,soilders and our country. Ask congress for pay raises for their Brave employees. Stop giving all our resources to non-American imigrants!! Be pround of the heroism our military protray! God knows our country needs it. I wonder why. (selfishness)...perhaps? Oh yeah, WAR, it's been around since the beginning of time! Sorry, we can't acknowledge that....However, we can accept in on the big screen just fine....Oh yeah, and by the way, people who enlist in the military, that's what they get Paid to do! ( Go to war, when ordered!) I would like to Thank each and every Brave Military personel we have, (including my own family members), for protecting my freedom and trying to stand up for that very same freedom all over the world! To the people that serve this country, God Bless each and everyone of you and your Families!

Posted by Karen Dilucente on May 22, 2007 01:59 PM

Gee, I guess it was toooo much for my 5 uncles that went to war during WWII. They should have came home after 12 or 15 months instead of fighting until the end of the war or until 3 of them were killed. What would have happened if all of the soldiers of WWII only participated for 12 or 15 months?
Do you think we would have won that war?
Plus, they did not have cell phones to call home or computers to send e-mails and pictures back and forth. The "solution" to end this war, is to "win it". Unlike your turn tail and run home.

Posted by Citizen on May 22, 2007 01:47 PM