Did you ever notice that the word "Friend" is just the word "Fiend" with the letter "R" thrown in for camouflage? Since I have been home, a lot of people I have thought were my "Friends" have turned to be just "Fiends" Even family members, when they call, ask stupid stuff of me like "Are you sick enough that you're dying?"...Yeah, like I got a big pot full of 100 dollar bills that I use as toilet paper, and I am saving the big bills to leave them in my will....NOT!!
Some Upper Command soldiers I worked for for have even told me, when you have time, YOU call me and we can set up some time to visit, like the phone doesn't work both ways. Well, when you are sick and in bed half the time what the heck are you supposed to do, I'm not out partying every night and getting laid every day!! And then you have the fair weather friends, the ones that only treat you fairly only if you do what they want you to do.
The friends I like the best are the ones I served with overseas, the ones that were my Battle Buddies...They are the ones that call me up and ask "Hey you old grumpy bastard...ya still kicking? You know they mean nothing but the best and in their own way are reaching out to hug you. It is a lot for these guys to pick up the phone and it means a lot to me. Of course there is no way in hell I am going to meet a group of these guys at a restaurant for dinner. You ever see a bunch of guys with PTSD try to all sit in the back seat of a booth in a restaurant? That would quickly escalate into a full fledged game of rock, paper, scissors, revolver...
And Speaking of PTSD, Remember, Please don't laugh at me or other veterans when some hammerhead tosses 3 large firecrackers on the street and I immediately drop to the ground for cover and roll behind something. And when you try talking to me, I am breathing and sweating so hard that I can hardly talk, like my sphincter has just jumped up and choked off my windpipe. That shit is not funny!!. When we finally die,we will come back and haunt your asses for the rest of your lives...so if you don't want to be hearing creaking and chains and stuff like that in your attic every night, don't make fun of Veterans. And to leave you with a quote from one of my favorite Clint Eastwood Movies "Gran Torino" from
Walt Kowalski "GET OFF MY LAWN"
