Random Acts Of Kindness

The Style Me Bloggers are back today with a wonderful link up.  There was lots of discussion towards the end of last year about doing some non-style related topics, so here we are.  I think this is a great one, and I hope you'll visit everybody today and see how they practice random acts of kindness.

Nothing makes us more human than being kind.  Quietly being kind to someone, with no wish for anything in return, is the best form of kindness.

Everett, Washington, the neighboring city to the south of us, is home to Naval Station Everett.  Since 1994 it has been the base for two aircraft carriers and many support ships, and at any given time there are about 6,000 sailors stationed here.  

We often encounter soldiers in the restaurants and stores around this Navy town, and without exception we have found them to be polite and courteous. Whenever possible, my husband and I quietly pay for their meal.  Nobody ever knows it was us, which is how we want it to be.  

To me, war itself is a stupid invention.  But I would never confuse government with the military individuals whose job it is to wage that war to provide for our well being. These brave men and women keep us safe from those who would destroy us if they could, and there is nothing I can ever do to repay them.  The best I can do is buy them dinner every once in a while. That's my random act of kindness.

This leads me into another topic that I have wanted to write about:   American Sniper, and all of the controversy surrounding the movie.  If you haven't seen it, you should.

American Sniper tells the story of Chris Kyle, a real life Iraq war veteran and sharpshooter.  After multiple tours of duty, he returned to America where he was shot and killed two years ago by a veteran with post traumatic stress disorder.

This is what I think about this well done movie.  American Sniper is neither an anti-war nor pro-war film.  It isn't about the rightness or wrongness of war.  It's about people - soldiers and their families back home.  It addresses the extraordinary psychological and personal sacrifices that every soldier and their family goes through when fighting a war or being deployed.  Nobody is perfect, but the work these men and women do are the reason we are free.  And for that they deserve our respect and thanks. The End.

Amber at Airing My Dirty Laundry wrote a great post about this subject a few weeks ago.  Her husband is currently deployed in the Air Force, so she has first hand perspective, and it's well written and to the point.


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