(no subject)

[jianantonic]

I took yesterday to be lazy and recover a bit from my whirlwind trip.   I'm doing much better today.  Not nearly as sore, so probably no permanent damage from my tumble down the mountain.  

I woke up early and took the MAX into town for a meeting with some tourism reps from Maui.  We talked a lot about what kinds of vacation experiences are available there (awesome ones) and potential press trips in the coming months.  I'd love to go...hopefully I can work something out with whatever new job I take.  The woman I need to speak with about that is allegedly going to call me back this afternoon, but we're kind of running out of afternoon in the workday...bleh.

I went to the gym for a bit, not sure how much I'd be able to handle given my residual soreness, but I actually had a really nice warmup run and then biked on a higher resistance level than I've been using for a while, so that was good.  Didn't do any weights, because ow.  But aside from the soreness, I do feel like I'm getting back into the shape I want to be in.  As I told Max, I lost enough of the extra weight I'd put on that my clothes fit me again.   Now I'd like to lose enough more so that they actually look good.  Maybe another 5-10 pounds :)

 

And now for the rant that has nothing to do with any of this.

 

The other day, I was at Old Navy taking advantage of their Independence Day sales and I bought a few things.  At the register, they asked me if I'd like to buy a pair of flip flops for the troops.  Um, no, I would not.  Let me explain why.

 

The troops already get my monetary support, against my will.  Too many of this pacifist's tax dollars go to war spending.  Not cool.  

The troops don't NEED my monetary support.  THEY GET PAID TO DO WHAT THEY DO.  They get a salary, they get housing, and the government gives them all the health care they won't provide people like me, and while no one strikes it rich as a soldier, they make a  pretty good living to go off and do something I completely disagree with.  

 

So no, I don't want to buy a fucking pair of flip flops for the troops.  And I wish everyone that did donate to "support the troops" would rethink those expenditures and direct them to something else instead, like Heifer International or a charity that actually makes the world a better place.

 

I have nothing against any individual member of the military, and it's not like it disgusts me to think of people sending care packages to soldiers overseas.   That's totally cool -- they're people, and they're far from home, and they deserve a little love and long distance tlc.  But the fact is that the military is not a charity.  They may not have enough money, but the solution to that is to dial down all the killing instead of asking me for a fucking donation.

Comments

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Good point about the false equivalence with a charity.

Also: If you donate to a food bank, you may well *be* supporting a troop and his/her family. Especially in the DC area.