Trying. . .Not. . .To. . .Think. . .Of. . .The. . .WAR
Obviously, this war is EVERYWHERE. You can't turn it off. Even if it's not in front of you in the form of television, print, Internet, or the person sitting near you at a bar yammering endlessly about the war while you try to concentrate simply on a tall frosty beer, it's in your head. Always. It's there.
Of course, it should be. We're witnessing one of those defining moments in history that deserves to be discussed and analyzed and reported on. But, still, it would be nice to have a non-war padded cell I could retreat to once in awhile, a place where I can think of innocent things like naked women and video games. That would be sweet.
As it is, I find it difficult to even concentrate on work. I keep clicking back to the Internet to see if there have been any major war developments. Have we taken Basra? Have we used a MOAB yet? Would an Iraqi woman date me? Why wouldn't she date me? Why are her standards so high? What about a one-night stand? Would she be up for that? Would she be willing to stroke my MOAB (mother of all boners) in Basra?
But even more than the 24/7 coverage and war tune playing in my head, I'm amazed at just how galvanized the camps have become for those in support of the war and those who oppose it. Some who oppose the war go so far as to say that American troops are simply "baby killers," as if the U.S. military's sole purpose on this planet is to bayonette all infants through the ears. Give me a break. But, on the other side, I occasionally hear someone in the pro-war camp talk about nuking Baghdad and any other pocket of resistance. That's disturbing. I mean, I totally support this war, and I think the U.S. military has so far shown remarkable restraint when it comes to carrying out this operation. But it bothers me when others in the pro-war camp seem to see this as a clean-up assault that should leave the entire country of Iraq a smoldering pile of turbans.
The other day my roommate, Amy, a hair stylist, related to me the opinion of one of her salon's patrons. This woman actually asked, "And what about all the oil we're supposed to get out of this deal? We should be killing them before they burn the oil wells." I didn't ask Amy what the woman drove, but I imagine it's the biggest SUV on the market, complete with a cup holder big enough to hold the quarts of Valvoline she drinks on the way to work.
It just goes to show that people on both sides just simply don't get it, and it burns my ears every time I hear an ignorant yelp from either side, and there's a lot of ignorant yelping going on, and it all just ends up in my head where I'm unable to shake it loose, and it all just bounces around my neurons resonating "Waaaaarrrrr" all the diddily ding dong damn day.
Posted by Ryan at March 27, 2003 11:27 AM
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