WeatherBug says that it is seventy-nine degrees now (ten past eleven p.m.). The Bug said our high was ninety-six. Our thermometer read ninety-eight here. They said that it felt like a hundred something. Now, we think that is hot enough to complain, don't we?
I though so when I went to the bank to make a deposit. The teller greeted me with a smile and asked how I was. My reply was HOT!
Then she told me a story and I will share it with you all. This time last year it was hot like today. The teller' grown son come to visit her and her husband. They were talking and she said that they were complaining about the heat - just like I was today.
Their son said "Mom and Dad, if you think this is hot, you don't really know what hot is." They gave a quizzical look first at each other and then at their son. He went on to say "When I was in Iraq, today's temperature was a mild day. Our hot days were one hundred twenty five degrees and we had to wear full flack gear".
The teller said they were so ashamed that they had complained about the heat and she vowed that never again would she complain about being hot. I took that as a challenge, today and in honor of the men and women who are in Iraq, Afghanistan and other miserable climates, I will join my bank teller and not complain about the heat.
Now, the rest of the story. As we shopped and as sweat rolled down my back just walking into an air conditioned Menards, Home Depot, Target and our favorite Mexican restaurant, I had to fight with myself not to talk about the heat. I had to remember that in Iraq and Afghanistan there are patrols in the heat, being shot at, not shopping in air conditioning or eating in air conditioning.
Wow, what a wake up call it was for me today... Let's never forget the people that struggle in 125 degree heat in full flack gear, on patrol, putting their lives on the line for us here at home. Whether or not we agree with the war, they are there for us. Let's thank God for them and ask HIM to bless them...
And I ask God to Bless you tonight and always....
That really puts the heat in perspective. No matter how bad things are, they are always worse for someone else, somewhere else. God bless our military personnel wherever they are, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteI wish they could all be brought home safe and ready to do peaceful things.
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