Saturday, December 6, 2008
I have a pet peeve to share
Okay, so I am in a happy place right now because my Christmas decorations are up and I am listening to Christmas Carols and my kids are outside playing in the snow - I LOVE IT! But I just heard a song that reminded me of a recent pet peeve of mine. I am listening to Josh Groban's Noel, and I love it, but there is a song that he has that bothers me. He sings "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and in the background he has soldiers speaking giving their Christmas wishes to their families, while they are in Iraq or Afghanistan. Okay, this makes me so mad!!!! I hate it when the press or singers or anyone capitalizes on soldiers being away on Christmas. They use them to pull at every one's heart strings and makes them look oh so concerned about "those poor soldiers away from their families". What CRAP!! (excuse my language)!! What about the thousands of families of mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, and children that won't have their soldier home for the holidays, or for months and months for that matter? Do they care about them at all - the families left behind? What about them? And then, the news will show a wonderful reunion of a soldier surprising their child at school when they come home for their 18 day R&R that just happens to be over Christmas. Lucky for him; how many soldiers would kill to have R&R over Christmas but can't because everyone has to take turns - what about them? Do they not care that there are THOUSANDS of such reunions every year? Why don't they show any of those? Oh, maybe because it is Christmas so we are suppose to be more concerned with the people who are sacrificing their lives to keep all of us safe. It just feels so "politically correct" and even "fake" to trot our the soldiers around Christmas and then forget about them for the rest of the year. I hate that they use some "token" soldiers, not their families, to make everybody cry and be sad and grateful for all of 2 seconds and then they are forgotten. IT MAKES ME SO MAD!!! (can you tell?) Okay, so I know I have rambled, but I hope you get my point. Soldiers, and their families should not be used to get "brownie" points by anyone. We know what we do and we know what we sacrifice and we do it willingly. Don't make light of what we do and the sacrifices we make, to make you look good.
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5 comments:
Ya, but how else would you like it done? You want everybody to show every family suffering while their soldier is gone? They can't do that, but at least they do SOMEthing. Even though its a small shout out, its at least A shout out. Right?
You know, I aggree with Adriann. It's nice just to know someone (wether it's a star or not) thought enough about our situation to make a song about it. I lived in a city for awhile that didn't have many military and Neil was gone. I didn't get very much support but believe it or not when I heard that "White Christmas" song, it made me cry but made me appreciate that they are making an effort to console the lonely at this time. I love ya Grace!
Wow! You sure feel passionate about this. Can I just say that the Josh Groban's Noel is absolutely one of my favorite Christmas albums ever? Yeah, I love it too.
Okay, let me clarify that I want the media or whoever to care all year round, not just on Christmas. Whenever a Battalion or Brigade deploys or returns they should report it. They should show real welcome home ceremonies with all the soldiers and their families; not just on Christmas.
Grace, I hear you Sister!!! They need to show the excitement year round when soldiers come home, not just because they happen to be coming home for Christmas, it is just as important when they come in the middle of absolutely nothing! This goes beyond the media too! I have a personal experience with seeing fanfare for some and none for others, it saddened me, actually it still bothers me to this day.
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