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A perplexing Question
Jun. 27th, 2006 06:42 pmOkay, so last night was sooo great. And just...awesome. So it definitely merits documentation and such like that...eventually. Right now, I'm just seeking opinions and insight.
So today I was commuting home on the train, and it was the beginning of rush hour so the space was quite cramped with people. I therefore found myself standing in rather close quarters to a man. He was a rather nondescript man...muscular, sporting a dour expression...
For lack of anything else to look at, I found myself reading a bracelet he had around his wrist. It read "Captain Robert"...something..."For Iraqui Freedom". and then it had tour dates, or whatever. Basically, he was a returned soldier. It made sense then, looking at him...he had a strong build, conservative dress, a crew cut, and his expression seemed a little haunted for just a train ride home. I had formerly read it as dour but eh. His hands also seemed to compulsively twitch and he flexed them almost constantly, which was another detail I hadn't noticed before.
I wanted to say something to him. My first inclination was to say "Congratulations, soldier"...but then my stop came before I got up the nerve. I regretted my shyness, really feeling that I should have said something. But the more I thought about it...what would I be congratulating him for? Doing his job? "Freeing the Iraquis"? Coming home alive when maybe some of his friends hadn't?
...It doesn't really fit, when you think about it. But I'm unsure what else you could say. "Good job" and "Thank you" seem inappropriate, because I personally am not in favor of the war. I find it strange that it should be so difficult to come up with a simple way to express "I admire your bravery and commitment even though I don't support the cause". Any words of appreciation sound like support foremost of the ideal, with the individual a far secondary consideration.
So can anyone think of what I might or should have said, if anything? It's okay if you don't have an answer or think just staying silent was right--I'm mostly interested in people's thoughts on this.
So today I was commuting home on the train, and it was the beginning of rush hour so the space was quite cramped with people. I therefore found myself standing in rather close quarters to a man. He was a rather nondescript man...muscular, sporting a dour expression...
For lack of anything else to look at, I found myself reading a bracelet he had around his wrist. It read "Captain Robert"...something..."For Iraqui Freedom". and then it had tour dates, or whatever. Basically, he was a returned soldier. It made sense then, looking at him...he had a strong build, conservative dress, a crew cut, and his expression seemed a little haunted for just a train ride home. I had formerly read it as dour but eh. His hands also seemed to compulsively twitch and he flexed them almost constantly, which was another detail I hadn't noticed before.
I wanted to say something to him. My first inclination was to say "Congratulations, soldier"...but then my stop came before I got up the nerve. I regretted my shyness, really feeling that I should have said something. But the more I thought about it...what would I be congratulating him for? Doing his job? "Freeing the Iraquis"? Coming home alive when maybe some of his friends hadn't?
...It doesn't really fit, when you think about it. But I'm unsure what else you could say. "Good job" and "Thank you" seem inappropriate, because I personally am not in favor of the war. I find it strange that it should be so difficult to come up with a simple way to express "I admire your bravery and commitment even though I don't support the cause". Any words of appreciation sound like support foremost of the ideal, with the individual a far secondary consideration.
So can anyone think of what I might or should have said, if anything? It's okay if you don't have an answer or think just staying silent was right--I'm mostly interested in people's thoughts on this.
