So a strange thing happened this weekend…
I was on a pub crawl for hallowe’en which consisted of 5 bars and many drinks. After the crawl, my buddy Dean and I, and his friend/colleague Tom (owner of the company that ran the pub crawl), went to 1410; a bar on 17th Ave for some more drinking. Now, while we were there, the lights came, the music went down, and we got ready to leave. However, being Hallowe’en I was on the lookout for costumes; good bad, and fake. Fake you ask? Well, there were a lot of cops out on the town (real and dressed up) and earlier we were talking about the point of how would you know who was who? Anyway, I noticed a table of roughly 10 people in military uniforms. Now, they all looked so good and real that I knew they couldn’t be fake. But I went over to find out regardless. I ended up talking to this group for 20 or so minutes, and found out that they had just come from a dinner ceremony at SAIT. There were a few of them who had lots of bars on their jacket representing awards and status achieved.
Now, after about 10 minutes or so, Dean came over and joined in our conversation. And during this conversation, the strangest thing happened…we both got an intense sense of pride and respect for of all these people. It could have been partly due to the fact that we had consumed many liters of fine beer, or it could have been the fact that this group was so welcoming, humble, and decorated. I definitely think it was a combination of the two, and by the end of the chat, just as we were leaving, it was almost like a chill came over my body because of what it all meant to me at that moment. I mean yes, their job is to serve and protect us, but still. They risk their lives for us knowing that many of the jobs they take could be their last.
That being said, please, on November 11, take a moment of silence for those who have fought and died for us in the past, present and the future.
And while you’re at it, watch this great song by Terry Kelly about taking a moment of silence: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg