It’s me, Carol Ott, filling in for Aaron.
So Aaron, in all his wisdom (or lack thereof), asked me to guest blog this weekend — I assume he’s off having fun this weekend. Hnmpf.
I swear last night I stayed up until almost 3 AM trying to think of something that wasn’t completely ridiculous to write about — in my own blog, I tend to write about the city….my family….my pet peeves…crackheads — you know — ordinary everyday stuff. Aaron tends to be more serious, and talks about things like…world events and politics. Unless I’m particularly riled about something world-event-related — I just can’t write about it. I have to be fired up. Ticked off. Panties in a twist. And lately, I haven’t gotten all that riled about anything, hence the lack of intelligent discourse this evening. I feel bad…like I’m leaving an inferior thank-you gift after being a weekend visitor. Yikes. Guess who won’t be asked back to the Hamptons next year?
So it’s Memorial Day Weekend — hope you’re having a good one. I was thinking what Memorial Day is supposed to be about…and what it’s turned into. Much like Christmas, Fourth of July, and just about every other American holiday — it’s more about mattress sales and “clear-’em-out” car sales than memorializing veterans. As Americans, we tend to commercialize everything — without fail. Even Jesus is an industry. It’s like an abusive relationship — we take something wonderful, reduce it to a meaningless pile of nothing, and then complain that we want things to go back to “the way they were….the good old days”. God forbid we should just leave things alone.
So instead of giving tribute to our country’s veterans, I’ve gone sailing…and cleaned the house, barbecued some chicken…gone grocery shopping — the usual. How many of us have done anything different this weekend? Does this make us “bad Americans”? Or does it just make us Americans who have lost the meaning of most holidays? Have we really taken the decency out of everything that made us such a great nation, and commercialized it to the point of no return? Or is it possible that we could return to a time where Christmas was about Jesus, and Memorial Day was about veterans? When Halloween was simply about dressing up and getting candy from the neighbors?
So happy Memorial Day Weekend to all of you who might be reading this, and tomorrow — please think of the people who tried to make this a great country, who made sacrifices so people like me will always have the right to say whatever I want to say…no matter how lame it may be.
Stumble it!
Since when was Christmas an American holiday? ;)
Semantics, semantics…. The point was made though…
I spent my Memorial Day weekend driving from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia. I saw the country, does that make me a good American? ;)
No, Vinnie. Just an irritated one. Trust me. I did the drive from Baltimore to Hartford.
Anything involving a turnpike can’t be good. That’s my travel philosophy.
“I did the drive from Baltimore to Hartford.”
Over my whole drive, Baltimore was the worst in both directions no matter what time of day. I have no idea how you guys commute every day. :|
Heh. I know some shortcuts. You shoulda hit me up. :) Let me guess. You used 95? ;)
I never take 695 anywhere…for any reason. 83 all the time, and 95 all the time. I never run into traffic on 95 unless I’m headed to DC. But that’s to be expected, I suppose.
“Let me guess. You used 95? ;)”
95/495 from NoVA to past DC, then whatever goes around Balmer (895?)
695.
Like I said, you shoulda hit me up. :)
For future reference, the best north-south route from Florida to Philly is via I-81 to I-40 in Tennessee and pick up I-75 south through Atlanta all the way to Florida. It adds some milage but it beats I-95.
Sounds tempting but I had to do 95 this time around to meet up with friends in Jacksonville and NC. I may try that next time when I’m going directly to south Florida though…
Good ole US of A lets everyone say what they feel and think. If you can read this THANK a teacher, if you can read this in english THANK a soldier- Marine, sailor, you know or if you can’t read it in english welcome to the US and I hope you like it here.