MY LIFE - DECEMBER

Thursday, December 7, 2000

Today marks the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an event in history that probably doesn't get the recognition that other events have received. There's no official holiday to commemorate this tragic date in U.S. history, but there should be. This was the event that pulled this country into World War II and led to the end of Adolf Hitler's reign in Germany.

The other events of the war, as well as its outcome, might not have taken place the way they did if it weren't for the Japanese bombing and the country's subsequent response to the attack. History more than likely would have been drastically changed as would future lives.

The bombing happened and we all know what happened after that. We all know because we've gone through it in history class, we've seen the movies that showed how graphic the violence really was (Saving Private Ryan comes to mind), and some of us have heard the stories from those who took either took part in the fighting or covered it from the sidelines.

You'd have to have some guts to go into that kind of war, but imagine those who agreed to cover the events. The journalists and camerament who risked their lives so that we could see then and now just what was going on over there. Without their accounts, it might have been another 10 or 20 years before we saw first-hand what was happening to the young men overseas in hostile lands.

It's these images, these recollections of the war that are often the most haunting. Maybe more so than you and I realize. Yes, we see the pictures in magazines, in the newspaper, online, and on the television, but the stories from the people who lived through that all are the ones who paint the most vivid picture of what happened. The veterans who by now are in their 70's and 80's, who sometimes can't remember their own family members' names, can remember with haunting detail what they witnessed during the battles.

They can tell you about people standing next to them one minute, then being blown to bits the next. They can tell you what it's like to have guns firing at you from all directions with bombs blowing up nearby. They can tell you what they experienced, they can make you live their experience, something an image can't always do by itself.

And yet many times we don't listen to these people. We don't see how horrific things really were, which is why war is still going on in many places in this world. We don't listen to our elders enough. We're too busy trying to get on with our own lives to pay attention to what they have to say or listen to the stories they have to tell. We treat the elderly like an inconvenience, something to be shoved aside for later.

If it weren't for the veterans in this country, dead and alive, we might not be sitting in a free country. We might not have the things we have nor would we be as advanced as we are. This country would not have been the same had things developed differently. These people in many cases gave their lives so that we could continue to live the way we had been living.

Yet we just shove them aside. We're so damn busy with our own agendas and what we think is important to realize that there are seniors paying $500 a month for medication just to keep them alive a little longer. We don't care though because we have to bicker about a presidential election that should have never come to what it's come down to. We bitch about how long we have to wait for something.

Many times it's my own generation that treats the seniors the worst. This is not true for many of us, but for some people my age, the seniors are just another face, wobbling down the street or picking up their medicine. We laugh at them, we make fun of them, we act snobby in front of them because we think we're better than them.

I ask this though. Would you protect this country, this way of living with your own life? Or would you turn around and run. Would you protect and defend the country if it came down to it, or would you duck and dodge and say that you don't really like to fight? I'm not condoning war. I'm condoning standing up for what you believe in. If you don't believe in this country and in the seniors that have allowed us to live the way we live, I have to wonder what you're doing here.

The U.S. is currently at peace. However, the past as shown that one event can drastically change that position and in a hurry. It's a lesson we'd best not forget.

I would like to thank every veteran who's ever fought in a war for everything they've done. You've done this country a service that can never be thanked enough. Thank you for everything you've done.

---

Today was a pretty good day. It was fairly slow at work so we were able to clean some cells and cassettes for a while so that we could catch up on the maintenance schedule that we're only like a month behind on. It's not so bad though. We've been trying to get the worst ones out of the way and concentrate on the other ones at a later time if at all possible.

I don't like how we clean them though. The rags we use are so filthy, so scuzzy that I have to wonder just how effective it really is. I mean, wiping dirt with dirt just doesn't seem to work out now, does it? Or is there some strange law of physics that I missed during my time in school? I'm not really sure, but I know a couple of people agree with me on that. I just think that there would be a better way to clean than the way we've been doing it.

Anyhoo. The store meeting is Saturday and it seems like scheduling and behavior are going to be two major issues to talk about. I know Joann is part of both of those but we'll see how much that situation is changed or remedied before the meeting takes place. I have a feeling that things are going to get a little interesting with Joann and her behavior though. Not too many people are happy with her. More than once I wanted to tell her to shut up when she asked if it was time to go home yet.

All in all, it was a good day though. I was joking around with people despite having some bad customers. I had one customer who claimed that we had committed fraud with her prescription by changing it. Problem was, it was just us changing it to the generic because she has Medicaid and Medicaid will not pay for any brand medications anymore.

So after 1/2 an hour of haggling with her over that and what Medicare and Medicaid were, I was able to get rid of her. Today was like that though. There was one problem after another with people concerning their medications. I was fine with the first few, but I started to get a little pissy after more problems kept coming up. There's only so much you can put up with after all.

Elizabeth had a couple of really interesting customers and more than once was trying to figure out what was going on. Steve had a couple himself and I had my share as well. Basically, everyone had at least one minor problem to contend with. I had a couple of insurance issues to go along with everything else I was trying to do. We did get caught up and found ourselves with nothing more to work on.

The snow had a lot to do with it being slow I think. It wasn't that heavy, but it was enough to continually coat the streets and keep things slick. Basically, people didn't want to go outside and drive in the snow, especially after what happened after the last snow storm we had. Traffic didn't appear to be that heavy most of the night and the snow is still coming down right now at a good clip. They're expecting another 2-4" overnight.

That's just perfect though. I have to get up tomorrow at 7 to go down to Brunswick to have them look at my 6-Disc CD changer that hasn't been working since last Friday. It's pulling the discs in, but it isn't reading them. It cycles through all the discs, then puts them back and says "No CD," which is kind of strange. So in all likelyhood, they'll pull the unit out, ship it to the repair center, then replace the changer before sending it back next Tuesday to have it put back in my car.

I've had my car for nearly six months now, so I guess I was due for a problem. I'm just happy that the first problem involves my CD player and nothing serious at this point. This car has been so much better to drive than anything else I've ever had. It's a world of a difference when you're dealing with a new car as opposed to a used one where anything can go wrong minutes after buying it.

I'm a satisfied customer despite it costing me an arm and a leg. So I'll take it in tomorrow and just use my portable CD player in the meantime. I'm going to try and stop by Tri-C to get some things straightened out, but we'll see how the day goes. I'll probably be tired and I don't have another chance to sleep in until next Tuesday coincidentally.

I think tomorrow will be another easy day. I definitely don't want to challenge the mall or any other shopping center. Fridays are already nuts with teenagers all over the place. Add holiday shoppers without a clue and you really have the potential for some trouble.

I think it's time to end this though. It's late and I have to get up on my day off. Then I have to get up at 5 in the morning Saturday. I think this weekend I'll be a little grumpy. We'll see how it goes though.