Swimming pools and sacrifice

Case,

I'm wearing headphones and listening to my iPod right now. I should probably take them off to think more clearly, but where's the fun in that, right? Music makes everything better, right? Well, we shall see.

Anyway, it's Memorial Day, when Americans across the country commemorate members of the military who have sacrificed their lives to sustain our freedoms by gathering at apartment complex swimming pools and partaking in thousands upon thousands of disgusting human stews. Others class it up by going to public beaches, which are just Walmarts at 2 a.m. with sand.

It wouldn't be an American holiday if it wasn't bastardized — by commercialism or shameless strangers showing too much skin.

Sometimes it's better to be stuck in the office flying a desk while the masses "celebrate" a holiday. Part of that celebration is the phrase that too often accompanies the recognition of this day — "Happy Memorial Day." What a terrible, (oxy)moronic characterization. I realize people don't mean anything bad when they say it, but it's really annoying — not so much morally but grammatically.

Having said that, and understanding that Memorial Day as a day of solemn reflection is an idea that has been lost in a haze of sunshine, barbecues and bathing suits, I'm not a Grinch about people trying to have a good time on the final Monday in May — as long as they have perspective. Of course, that's easier said than done. Perspective is what Memorial Day is really about. Unfortunately, perspective is not really an American trait in the 21st century.

Perspective is a stranger to the hurried masses
It seems to make no difference what the station or the class is
A species that's endangered like my mother's Latin masses
We all just want to bitch and moan until the moment passes

On Memorial Day, don't let the moment pass. Have fun spending time with family and friends, gorging yourself on meat products and pretending you have the type of body that people would want to view in public. Just remember that we're allowed to bask in such frivolity not because we deserve it (Nobody cares how hard you've been working; you're alive, aren't you?), but because many brave souls have and continue to pay the ultimate price for it.

Many people will say that Americans don't die in service to their country so the rest of us can "enjoy" Memorial Day. That's true. Americans die in service to their country so we can enjoy EVERY day. That's the American ideal, the American Dream. It shouldn't take a single day in May to be cognizant of the freedom that makes this nation great. But that's just how it works for the hurried masses in the 21st century.

I don't know how much of what I write in these letters will stick with you, but I hope the message in this one does. Make Memorial Day about fun AND solemn remembrance. Celebrate your freedom how you see fit, as long as, at the end of the day, you're aware of and thankful for those who gave (and keep giving it) to you.

Love,
Dad

P.S. I have no idea what songs I was listening to for the past 30 minutes.