Anecdote in a Time of War

The other day I was heading home from working at school, and typically I take the Georgia Avenue exit off of the Beltway heading south. This route brings me into downtown Silver Spring, MD before I head east on Sligo Avenue. As I approached my turn I was stopped at a red light and glanced at the macho Dodge Durango to my left. The occupant of the passenger seat glanced back and the window lowered. A sense of urgency addressed his face, and I rolled down my window in kind. He was a muscular white man with a military style buzzed hair-cut. The driver was an attractive blond who clearly shared his concern for help.

That's when I noticed his prosthetic arms, and he asked me if I knew how to get to Walter Reed Army Hospital..... I assured him that he was on the right street and gave him a sense of how much farther it was to Walter Reed. As the light changed and traffic moved forward I held back in order to switch lanes and make my left turn onto Sligo. The Durango's liscence plate was from Texas.

Without jumping to any conclusions, because I'll never know about these two beyond what that moment provided, FACT; Walter Reed Army Hospital is the place where many profoundly injured soldiers from Irag/Afghanistan end up. And Fact, as of August 4, 2006 the DOD website reports that just over 20,000 soldiers (20,199) have been injured as a result of our incursions in the middle east.

And what do we honestly have to show for it?
~ World Peace? Ask an Isreali, a Lebanese, an Iraqi, an American.....
~ Prosperity? Why can't we raise the minimum wage for the working POOR? Why are local and state taxes going up? Why has the price of gas nearly doubled? Why are these companies allowed to make record profits and not return something back to the nation as a response to their greed?
~ Democracy? Why can't most states hold recounts anymore because of faulty and fraudulent electronic voting machines?

You see how one little encounter can lead to thoughts of a world gone mad? No wonder I turned onto Sligo with a tear in my eye...