Posted on 03/24/2020 4:46:37 PM PDT by foundedonpurpose
I talked with a man today, an 80+ year old man. I asked him if there was anything I can get him while this Coronavirus scare was gripping America. He simply smiled, looked away and said: "Let me tell you what I need! I need to believe, at some point, this country my generation fought for... I need to believe this nation we handed safely to our children and their children... I need to know this generation will quit being a bunch of sissies...that they respect what they've been given...that they've earned what others sacrificed for." I wasn't sure where the conversation was going or if it was going anywhere at all. So, I sat there, quietly observing. "You know, I was a little boy during WWII. Those were scary days. We didn't know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war. There was no certainty, no guarantees like Americans enjoy today. And no home went without sacrifice or loss. Every house, up and down every street, had someone in harm's way. Maybe their Daddy was a soldier, maybe their son was a sailor, maybe it was an uncle. Sometimes it was the whole damn family...fathers, sons, uncles... Having someone, you love, sent off to war...it wasn't less frightening than it is today. It was scary as Hell. If anything, it was more frightening. We didn't have battle front news. We didn't have email or cellphones. You sent them away and you hoped...you prayed. You may not hear from them for months, if ever. Sometimes a mother was getting her son's letters the same day Dad was comforting her over their child's death. And we sacrificed. You couldn't buy things. Everything was rationed. You were only allowed so much milk per month, only so much bread, toilet paper. EVERYTHING was restricted for the war effort. And what you weren't using, what you didn't need, things you threw away, they were saved and sorted for the war effort. My generation was the original recycling movement in America. And we had viruses back then...serious viruses. Things like polio, measles, and such. It was nothing to walk to school and pass a house or two that was quarantined. We didn't shut down our schools. We didn't shut down our cities. We carried on, without masks, without hand sanitizer. And do you know what? We persevered. We overcame. We didn't attack our President, we came together. We rallied around the flag for the war. Thick or thin, we were in it to win. And we would lose more boys in an hour of combat than we lose in entire wars today." He slowly looked away again. Maybe I saw a small tear in the corner of his eye. Then he continued: "Today's kids don't know sacrifice. They think a sacrifice is not having coverage on their phone while they freely drive across the country. Today's kids are selfish and spoiled. In my generation, we looked out for our elders. We helped out with single moms who's husbands were either at war or dead from war. Today's kids rush the store, buying everything they can...no concern for anyone but themselves. It's shameful the way Americans behave these days. None of them deserve the sacrifices their granddads made. So, no I don't need anything. I appreciate your offer but, I know I've been through worse things than this virus. But maybe I should be asking you, what can I do to help you? Do you have enough pop to get through this, enough steak? Will you be able to survive with 113 channels on your tv?" I smiled, fighting back a tear of my own...now humbled by a man in his 80's. All I could do was thank him for the history lesson, leave my number for emergency and leave with my ego firmly tucked in my rear. I talked to a man today. A real man. An American man from an era long gone and forgotten. We will never understand the sacrifices. We will never fully earn their sacrifices. But we should work harder to learn about them..learn from them...to respect them.
My grandfather‘s first wife died of the Spanish flu in 1918. Grandfather had three boys to raise. He married my grandmother. She was 25 years younger than he was and only a few years older than the boys. They later had two daughters. One of which was my mother.
Grandfather died in 1968. He was buried next to his first wife. Grandmother died in 1984 she was buried in the same plot. They all three share the same tombstone. Weird? that’s just how things worked.
No 80 year old said that. Without taking a nap.
I didn’t write it. It was sent to my wife by a friend.
Hahaha
You are bullshit. I am 81 and I agree 110% with this gentleman. Get a life snowflake. MAGA!!!!!
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Agree with you and the sentiments put forth by the 80yo man.
I am also 80, still working ‘real work’ and most bent out of shape by the antics of Pelosi, Biden, HRC, Bernie, Lieawatha and the other so called ‘Senior’ leaders.
Those clowns have the rest of the world convinced that ANYONE over 70 has to be a used up hag without a lick of common sense or any intelligence.
Thanks. I took the last two lines to share on FB.
Good post
You NEWBIES should show a little respect to your ‘elders’ <: <: <:
Hey, I called him Pops. That’s respectful.
Dammit. I was going to say that.
People should remember that not all 80 + year old people are like “Mr Dementia Patient of The Year”...joe “Who am I?” biden.
More reasons why they were/are the greatest generation!
Paragraph: a distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme and indicated by a new line, indentation, or numbering.
80 is not the GG. That is the Silent Generation. Born too late for WWII, and were ineffective for the rest of their lives.
What in the world do you mean by that comment?? Are you suggesting that anyone born in the 1944= contributed nothing to society?
I've read your nasty comments on this thread and you are not funny, clever, nor intelligent. As a matter of fact, you sound like a VERY grumpy over 80 year old, or a snot nosed 12 year old. In your second childhood, are you?
And no, I'm not 80; not older than that either.
Some people are VERY HEALTHY, both mentaly and physically when they're 100. Some, like you, just don't cut it, at any age.
As a stand alone sentence yes.
But your body language(previous responses) shows much disrespect, which begs the question, is it necessary to be such a Schiff head?
Agree ....but it is not the kids fault ..It is the parents...they do not let the kids have any freedom....and they give them everything.....and are afraid to discipline them...plus there are to many single parents...
In the 1940s most kids lived on a farm or were poor in the city...
Kids started working when they were in third grade and younger if you lived on a farm...
We had paper routes in fifth and six grades...mowed lawns ....state labor laws do not help...
“Those clowns have the rest of the world convinced that ANYONE over 70 has to be a used up hag without a lick of common sense or any intelligence”
Yes and those same clowns have two almost 80 year-olds running for president.
I’m just 80 and think age in years is not as important as mental acuity and energy. Many 60 year-olds don’t have either.
So? I met a 40-year-old Karen, who said that we should eat raw cookie dough and rotten hamburger. She is covered with tattoos, goes to bars for one night stands to catch venereal diseases on purpose, tries to OD on all kinds of drugs and says, “Just the flu, bro!”
Oh...forgot. She’s also on a keto diet and eats a whole ham for lunch before going for a drive on the highway to text her friends and complain to managers about employees wearing gloves and making her panic.
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