Someday

"Life has a certain flavor for those who have fought and risked all that the sheltered and protected can never experience." John Stuart Mill

Years ago, I was a travel agent in a small town, and building relationships with clients was very important. When I first started out, it was before Orbitz and Travelocity, when a passenger had to have a paper ticket to board a plane  Airfare prices even today fluctuate wildly. The last time I flew into Pittsburgh to visit my family, I got a fare of $154. This morning the best price I could get even with an advance purchase is $371.

So I would watch fares for that client who would be going to a wedding in Omaha next summer, or that other client whose grandchildren live in Seattle. I'd call them so they could lock in the lower fare. Oahu every early December was the destination of one older man who was a Pearl Harbor survivor. The first time I met him, I waited expectantly for him to tell about the day that Franklin Roosevelt said "would live in infamy." I have always enjoyed hearing stories of days gone by told my elder storytellers.

His story was short and to the point. "I was seventeen. I peed my pants." Every year, he would tell me that same story. As if I had never heard it before. There was no elaboration. Now I will be frank and tell you that I didn't press him mostly because I was uncomfortable hearing any more stories about his, ahem, elimination. He loved to talk, so I guess if he wanted to tell me more he would have.

He was young and he was scared. I respect those men and women who have served and continue to serve our country. They deserve a well funded military so they can do their jobs. They are young, and some would call them kids. But that seems disrespectful, because they see a side of life that I as an older person have never had to face. I don't have to face it, because they are willing to.

War is ugly and scary, and we collectively as Americans have made mistakes, such as detainment camps during World War II, described in this article today in the Los Angeles Times. We can learn from the past. We can learn from our mistakes. And we can hope for and work toward a better tomorrow.

Susan

I can't determine who wrote "Someday at Christmas." Was it Stevie Wonder?