We live in a small world with big problems.
A small world where anyone with right kind of paperwork can travel anywhere in the world.
How do we win a war in a far away land where the rules of war are not the same and the characters we fight view death as victory?
Tonight I watched the Bob Woodruff piece "To Iraq and Back " on ABC.
The piece rattled me.
Within me it exposed some of my casual views on war.
War, we live with it in our media but do we live with it in our minds?
I fall asleep worrying about mostly inconsequential things but the spouses, mothers and fathers worrying for their soldiers...
The Woodruff piece really challenged my thinking.
I have heard people say "It is sad that we are losing soldiers but not that many are dying compared to some of the great battles..."
Casual thinking about war.
I have seen trauma in the back of an ambulance fresh off a scene and trauma on the way to a long term rehab center...
Have I seen war trauma? Do we see much of it except for the finality of death at clips from funerals?
Woodruff's piece highlighted the fact that less soldiers are dying. Death makes the headlines but the thousands of young service men and women suffering from battle injury is exponential and it is far away from American awareness. (From Iraq and Afghanistan numbers: 23,000 non fatal injuries - 200,000 have gone to V.A. for care).
The "Second Fight:" Taking care of our veterans at home.
The decisions that our nation's leaders are tremendous. Is right to send into war and not always provide the resources for recovery?
America has incredible war technology.
America has incredible life saving war medicine.
But what quality of life do some of the survivors have?
Is their pain our pain?
Woodruff's personal story and his investigation into Traumatic Brain Injury and the way vets are treated challenged my perception of the war and socked me in gut... the experiences of the wounded and their family. What a price they pay - how can we help them carry this burden?
2.27.2007
2.11.2007
it is hard to be poor in a plastic society
CHAPTER 1
walking out of the door of big g's in A2 after making some purchases for class a lady approached me asking for money - she gave me an explanation of why she had no money and why she needed money - her speech was slurred and she assured this wasn't no game
i told her i only had a few bucks (4) but i would take her anywhere she needed and offered to take her into Kroger to purchase groceries with her but she did not like that idea
she put out her ciagarete and loaded into the car
she told me she was diabetic and that explained some of her behavior and indecision and sluggish nonverbal activity.
our journey the next 5-10 minutes only took us a few blocks here and there
we went to several stops in the neighborhood but she continued to want to move on someplace to look for solutions- i asked her if her sugar was low and she said yes - we pulled through McD's
our next stop was Kroger
said a short prayer for her
parked
she finished her McD's
she asked me if i wanted some R&B CDs but then she coughed a chuckle - "you probably don't listen to that kinda music." i told her she needed her music for her-not sure what she wanted to do with her music.
i dropped her off at the door offering to help her make some purchases but she said she had another plan- spoke my hope that she finds what she needs - that she finds what she needs today
CHAPTER 2
diaper dasher
in my younger days when i chummed around chicago with street dwellers and cons i was so optimistic that whatever it was i was doing would be the moment - be that something that gave them the momentum to escape. even the time when i got tricked into purchasing the biggest most expensive (took all the money i had!) pack of diapers - as soon as i handed the money at the counter the guy took off with the diaper pack, the pack was half as big as him and he barely fit through the revolving door- so much for meeting his wife and baby... later found out that diapers and baby formula are two very powerful pieces of merchandise on the street.
at one point when K and I were discussing money i blurted out that i hate money - not in a hateful way - i think she understood what i was saying for the both of us - i told her she was financially unlucky to cross my path - our eyes connected
why is it awkward to talk about money? why in america is there such a connection between money and our heart?
i speak for K, the diaper dasher and all my friends that once lived within Lower Wacker:
CHAPTER 3
it is hard to be poor in a plastic society
it is even harder to be poor in a rich country
my gaze and heart have been fixed on third world places
when i worked in Emergency Medical Services i practically gave up believing that this nation would resolve OUR poverty issue, resolve the way sick people are cared for
been considering the universal picture
the scope of where i am and who i am and what
what i can do - i have direction - it is the same direction it was - the course has not changed only the vehicle (me)
the misadventures of pooh are over
"click" in my mind and heart - i know this - nothing is amiss
streets are places to take is from one place to another- streets are different on days like today for K - STREET is all the places moms like K have to go looking for an opportunity to survive - survive one day at a time - even the streets of a city more suburban than urban
i am home now - my hands are still cold even after a few moments of typing and pounding out my thoughts - must toughen my 5 senses - discontinue my plastic, casual, misadventures
the car smells like old cigarette smoke and street
Jesus smelled like street
he wouldn't dis somebody in a parking lot on a cold day
i saw her coming - i still have great street radar - i know what was coming - first thought was duck into car and get going
instead
a trip into K's world and a heavy dose of healthy introspection:
Jesus people should smell like street...not plastic
walking out of the door of big g's in A2 after making some purchases for class a lady approached me asking for money - she gave me an explanation of why she had no money and why she needed money - her speech was slurred and she assured this wasn't no game
i told her i only had a few bucks (4) but i would take her anywhere she needed and offered to take her into Kroger to purchase groceries with her but she did not like that idea
she put out her ciagarete and loaded into the car
she told me she was diabetic and that explained some of her behavior and indecision and sluggish nonverbal activity.
our journey the next 5-10 minutes only took us a few blocks here and there
we went to several stops in the neighborhood but she continued to want to move on someplace to look for solutions- i asked her if her sugar was low and she said yes - we pulled through McD's
our next stop was Kroger
said a short prayer for her
parked
she finished her McD's
she asked me if i wanted some R&B CDs but then she coughed a chuckle - "you probably don't listen to that kinda music." i told her she needed her music for her-not sure what she wanted to do with her music.
i dropped her off at the door offering to help her make some purchases but she said she had another plan- spoke my hope that she finds what she needs - that she finds what she needs today
CHAPTER 2
diaper dasher
in my younger days when i chummed around chicago with street dwellers and cons i was so optimistic that whatever it was i was doing would be the moment - be that something that gave them the momentum to escape. even the time when i got tricked into purchasing the biggest most expensive (took all the money i had!) pack of diapers - as soon as i handed the money at the counter the guy took off with the diaper pack, the pack was half as big as him and he barely fit through the revolving door- so much for meeting his wife and baby... later found out that diapers and baby formula are two very powerful pieces of merchandise on the street.
at one point when K and I were discussing money i blurted out that i hate money - not in a hateful way - i think she understood what i was saying for the both of us - i told her she was financially unlucky to cross my path - our eyes connected
why is it awkward to talk about money? why in america is there such a connection between money and our heart?
i speak for K, the diaper dasher and all my friends that once lived within Lower Wacker:
CHAPTER 3
it is hard to be poor in a plastic society
it is even harder to be poor in a rich country
my gaze and heart have been fixed on third world places
when i worked in Emergency Medical Services i practically gave up believing that this nation would resolve OUR poverty issue, resolve the way sick people are cared for
been considering the universal picture
the scope of where i am and who i am and what
what i can do - i have direction - it is the same direction it was - the course has not changed only the vehicle (me)
the misadventures of pooh are over
"click" in my mind and heart - i know this - nothing is amiss
streets are places to take is from one place to another- streets are different on days like today for K - STREET is all the places moms like K have to go looking for an opportunity to survive - survive one day at a time - even the streets of a city more suburban than urban
i am home now - my hands are still cold even after a few moments of typing and pounding out my thoughts - must toughen my 5 senses - discontinue my plastic, casual, misadventures
the car smells like old cigarette smoke and street
Jesus smelled like street
he wouldn't dis somebody in a parking lot on a cold day
i saw her coming - i still have great street radar - i know what was coming - first thought was duck into car and get going
instead
a trip into K's world and a heavy dose of healthy introspection:
Jesus people should smell like street...not plastic
2.08.2007
BACK
BACK: Back to blogging and something else is back...
LOST: While watching the preview part of LOST's return my frustration
with this tele tale became clarified. I have never really been a hater in fact generally I love (strange string of words) the show because of its imaginative potential, the complex, messed up grossly beautiful and relationally clumsy characters. Rather than being a snob - with and the amount of TV Americans consume- why shouldn't we feel like media critics - tis the way of journalism these days - editorialization.
Sorry about the tanget...
LOST captured my imagination in the past because the story was wide open - all things were new - faces, places, back stories. The early episodes stretched my appetite and the story was filling. Lately there HAVE BEEN MORE ANSWERS - don't always like the answers but the story has been narrowing and familiarity - yes familiarity has caused some of us know it alls some furious frustration. (I would rather be furious than blah.)
LOST: Live together or die alone
At this point in the storyline frustration comes naturally because 3 of the central characters are captive or hunted. This is a pinch point in the tale and at this bottleneck, the preasure is building. Hopefully the tension will not be lost on us.
LOST: While watching the preview part of LOST's return my frustration
with this tele tale became clarified. I have never really been a hater in fact generally I love (strange string of words) the show because of its imaginative potential, the complex, messed up grossly beautiful and relationally clumsy characters. Rather than being a snob - with and the amount of TV Americans consume- why shouldn't we feel like media critics - tis the way of journalism these days - editorialization.
Sorry about the tanget...
LOST captured my imagination in the past because the story was wide open - all things were new - faces, places, back stories. The early episodes stretched my appetite and the story was filling. Lately there HAVE BEEN MORE ANSWERS - don't always like the answers but the story has been narrowing and familiarity - yes familiarity has caused some of us know it alls some furious frustration. (I would rather be furious than blah.)
LOST: Live together or die alone
At this point in the storyline frustration comes naturally because 3 of the central characters are captive or hunted. This is a pinch point in the tale and at this bottleneck, the preasure is building. Hopefully the tension will not be lost on us.
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