A Delicate Subject

I know this is a delicate subject, but just roll with me on this . . .

At the beginning of this pandemic, everybody went crazy buying toilet paper.  The experts labeled this panic buying.  They said we had a herd mentality.  However you want to describe it, all I know is that we got stuck with 1-ply from the dollar store, thank you very much.

As things calmed down, we were finally able to procure the highly coveted 2-ply; it’s like going from Wonder Bread to a crusty Italian loaf.  You never really get used to the 1, but you tolerate it because it’s all there is. 

Which got me to thinking, “Why do we even have 1-ply?  Who’s buying this stuff anyway?”  The reality is, you go through 1-ply twice as fast as 2, so it’s not like you are saving any money, and besides—really—which one is less wasteful?

In the end, like a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know. (If you get the Tootsie Pop reference, you may be older than you’re admitting; if you don’t, check out the high-tech commercial here.)

Anyway, the toilet paper and tootsie pops are not really my point. 

My point is that on this Memorial Day when we remember those who have died in service to our country, we have gotten used to a lot of things—and we take a lot of things for granted. 

In fact, most of us are so spoiled that the only things we can complain about is toilet paper and our lengthening locks.  Many of us can pretty much go through an “ordinary” day and not give a second thought to our troops, whose days are not very “ordinary” at all.

Their “ordinary day” comes with a price tag, and that price tag is very high.

For those who have had someone in their family, or a friend, who died in the service, there is a heightened sense of the cost of keeping our country safe.

As we pray for the souls of those who lost their lives protecting our country, let us continue to pray for those in active duty, as well as those who have retired.  The world may never really know the extent to which their service has made it possible for you and I to have an “ordinary” day.

Let us be careful not to ever waste one.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net