Everyone always says that the war in Iraq can't really be understood unless someone you care about is over there. I guess you can look at the politics, the economic side of things, but from an emotional standpoint those don't even come close.
I just found out today that someone I care about is getting deployed. And I can't believe it. And many of my friends are turning 18, and the boys are enlisting. The war, finally, after . . . how many years has it been? 5? 6? It's just now hitting home from me. That people I admire, people I respect, and in some of the boys' cases people that I've grown up with could just be whisked away to the other side of the world to risk their lives . . .
I can't understand it.
Driving home on Halloween, slowly inching my way down the road past little kids trick-or-treating and I turn on the mix:
"THIS NIGHTTTT . . . WE PRAY . . . OUR LIVES . . . WILL SHOW . . . THIS DREAM . . . WE HAVE . . ."
In mild shock I switched to another station. Maybe it was a prank. A few minutes later I turned back.
"J-I-N-G-L-E Bells."
Whoa. This is nuts. Christmas is coming earlier and earlier every year. I'm Catholic and I think it's nuts. I can't imagine how non-Christians feel about a favorited radio station switching to Christmas music two months in advance!
This is pretty good for some laughs!
How to save your butt if you plan to visit Wisconsin
Issued by the Wisconsin Tourism Bureau to ALL visitors:
1) Don't order filet mignon or pasta primavera at Al's Lodge. It's a diner. They serve breakfast 24 hours a day. Let them cook something they know. If you upset the ladies in the kitchen they'll kick your butt.
2) Don't laugh at the names of our little towns (Sheboygan, Menomonie, Nekoosa, Prairie du Chien, etc.) or we will just have to kick your butt.
3) We know our heritage. Most of us are more literate than you. We are also better educated and generally a lot nicer. Don't refer to us as a bunch of hicks or we'll kick your butt.
4) We have plenty of business sense. You have to make a living here. Naturally, we do sometimes have small lapses in judgment from time to time, but we are not dumb enough to let someone move to our state in order to run for the Senate. If someone tried to do that, we would kick his/her butt.
5) Don't laugh at our giant fiberglass fish and cows. Anything that inspires tourists to buy 50,000 postcards can't be bad. And don't laugh at our love and pride of cheese or we'll kick your butt.
6) We are fully aware of how cold it gets here in the winter, so shut the heck up. Just spend your money and get the heck out of here or we'll kick your butt.
7) Don't order the vegetarian special at the local diner. Everyone will instantly know that you're a tourist. Eat your steak well-done like God intended and have some potatoes with that, for heaven's sake! Also, don't ask what a hot dish is or we'll kick your butt.
8) Don't try to fake a Wisconsin accent. We don't have an accent. That will incite a riot and you will get your butt kicked.
9) Don't talk about how much better things are at home because we know better. Many of us have visited big-city hell-holes like Detroit, New York, and Chicago, and we have the scars to prove it. If you don't like it here, Interstates 90, 94, 39, and 43 are ready when you are. Move your butt on home before it gets kicked.
10) Don't complain that Wisconsin has too many mosquitoes and farm land. If you whine about OUR scenic beauty we'll kick your butt all the way back to Chicago.
11) Don't ridicule our mannerisms. We only speak when spoken to. We hold doors open for others. We offer our seats to old folks because such things are expected of civilized people. Behave yourselves around our sweet, little gray-haired grandmothers or they will kick some manners into your butt, just like they did ours.
12) So you think we're quaint or losers because most of us live on the farm or in the woods? That's because we have enough sense to not live in filthy, smelly, crime-infested cesspools like New York or LA. Make fun of our fresh air and we'll kick your butt.
13) Oshkosh B'gosh is NOT a joke. Your butt will be kicked.
14) Last, but not least, DO NOT DARE to come out here and tell us how the prairies should "go back to the buffalo." This will get your butt shot (right after it is kicked). Just mention this once and you will go home in a pine box. Minus your butt.
Now enjoy your visit and then go home.
(found on facebook)
