Nobody Asked Me…

Spent a few hours at the OKC VA yesterday, two ‘interesting’ things…

First, we all STILL hate standing in line…LOL What a surprise! Pharmacy line was probably 8-9 long, 7 standing, 1 in wheelchair. The usual comments were flying (hurry up and wait, etc.) The gent in the wheelchair piped up, “At least I’m sitting down.” Moving his lap blanket, he held up a stump in a sock and said, “And I gotta remember the damn thing is gone, especially at night, when I gotta go piss… Got up last night and fell flat on my damn face.” Rather than commiseration, the line broke out in laughter, not AT the gent, but with him. One of the others in line rapped his prosthetic and replied, “Yep, you can either set the leg right by the bed, or put your walker where you’ll fall into it, your choice.”

Yep, gallows humor, but hey… Military…

The inherent politeness of veterans of all ages, sexes, creeds, and colors…

The other was an ongoing conversation I stepped into the middle of in the waiting room. Probably 8-10 folks, all races, at least three generations spanning WWII to GWOT. I caught the tail end of the 9/11 conversation, which segued into the whole Generals and Admirals coming out for either candidate (consensus they should ALL shut up, not their place to drag the military into the middle of the crap), to the NFL thing (general consensus, boycott their asses for any team or players that sit) and the laughable facts surrounding Kaepernick (adopted, raised by white parents, $19M paycheck this year, scholarships, etc), and the idiot from Kansas City that did the black power salute last night.

That got a younger black veteran started (probably mid-late 20s, missing an arm below the elbow). He pulled at his skin and said something like, “This skin suit don’t mean s**t,” hitting his chest he went on, “It’s what’s in here. I hate going home, everybody pity’s me, or says I was stupid to go.” He waved his arm around the room, “I feel more comfortable with you old farts than I do with any of my peers. Y’all understand…”

That got a round of laughter, and and one of the older black vets said something like, “Welcome to our world. The only thing that counts here is your service. Nothing more, nothing less. We ARE your family now. All of us.”

I got called for the doc at that point, and didn’t hear the rest of it, but damned if that isn’t true… Inter-service rivalries not withstanding, active duty and veterans DO stand together, pretty much regardless of what they are facing…