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what makes a person a "star"?.......
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Hello my friends, instead of boring you with a story from the sandbox I thought I'd share this with you. This was sent to me by a friend and I thought it was worth sharing with the rest of you, so please give it a read.
For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.
Ben Stein's Last Column...
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How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.
It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.
A real star is the US soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.
A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the US soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.
We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.
Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.
But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
By Ben Stein
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government property....
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Do you know what happens when you sign on the dotted line and join the military? You become property of the United States Government. Seriously, if I get sunburn over here I can get in trouble for damaging government property and/or putting myself in a state so as I can’t do my mission here properly, Increasing your risk of skin Cancer is still a concern, it just comes 3rd on the list. On the positive side of this, as an army medic I am trained and allowed to do more than I could on the civilian side. Nothing beats hands on experience when it comes to treating Patients as for as I’m concerned, suturing a dead chicken is nothing compared to putting 4 stitches in a live human being.
A couple days ago while I was working we had a soldier come in who had cut his knee open. There were a couple medics on hand ready and willing to put their training into practice, so as opportunity presents itself, class was in session and 2 of our medics were able to each put in 2 of the 4 stitches needed to close the offending wound.
We began by cleaning and irrigating the laceration, and injecting Lidocaine to numb the area. The first stitch was slow and shaky but was successful; on the second stitch things went a lot smoother, as you get used to the feel of having to actually push a needle through skin, you become more confident, and with the watchful eye of our docs on us, our skills can only improve. Another medic was next up and he got both his in slowly but surely. Another successful mission accomplished, and another soldier taken care of.
The one great thing about the army for me is the opportunity to get this kind of hands on stuff I could never do on the civilian side, but that’s one reason army medics are so good I think, we are thrown into situations head first over and over again which effectively keeps our skills sharp. How does a medic find out truly how good he or she is under pressure or when it counts? The true test of an anchor is how it weathers the storm. The medics I’m with have weathered the storm time and again and I’m thankful to be deployed with each and every one of them. By the way, the soldier who fell was not punished for damaging government property; it was an accident so it’s cool.
Goodbye for now people, and know that we are keeping the machine running smooth on this side. Troy.
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conex....blah!
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Well here I am back in the usual routine, it’s not bad at all really, or as bad as I thought it would be. I was seeing patients today and it was like I had never left. I’m definitely in a much better mood than when I left though. I’m on the end of an awful head cold I developed while returning to Iraq, which combined with jet lag left me feeling pretty miserable, but I’m feeling much better now.
My first day back we spent some time organizing supplies in one of our 2 conexes. This has become a tedious endeavor because this conex isn’t that big, one would think that the supplies could be counted once and then as new supplies come in inventory could be added to the lists. I think a good estimate would be 237 hours of my time has been spent inside this little storage container counting and reorganizing supplies. I think that instead of the red bull as my combat patch I should also be offered the choice of wearing a picture of this conex on my arm instead, since a significant amount of my time in Iraq was spent inside that red box.
The first 4 months of my time in Iraq has actually went by fairly quickly, and having time to reflect on that since back from my break, puts me at ease knowing that the rest of my time here will move along just as quickly. The key is staying busy and my leadership is good about finding stuff for me to do (counting/reorganizing items in a conex). You can tell in this picture how excited I am to be out at our little storage shed yet again, the remnants of a cold still lingering in my head. I’m out there with SSG Bell and SSG Hughes, both from the Iowa side of the house, they are my new leadership directly over me, and are good people. Sorry bout not having anything that pisses me off or anything funny happening here but I just got back, give it time. Take care people. Troy.
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there and back again...a soldiers tale...
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Hello friends, As I'm typing this out I am doing so from the comfort of a bed that has a mattress made partially of memory foam, meaning its not from an army bunk, but from the comfort of home. It took about 44 hours from the beginning of my first flight to touchdown in Minneapolis, not to bad really. Longest part was the flight from Germany to Atlanta...9 hrs.
It's so good do be hanging out with friends, even better to be able to go anywhere I want, when I want, and not be wearing body armor when I go. The weather has been perfect, and a few of my friends have a lot of time off while I am home so I always have company to hang out with.
First place I went to eat when I got home was taco bell, the first of many food joints I'll be visiting. Tomorrow will be Saturday, gonna catch Pirates of the Caribbean in the afternoon, and drinks with friends that evening...that is about as much of a schedule as I'm bothering to make.
It is great being home though, this place is so much prettier than where I've been, green grass and trees, Mpls. is a great city to live in, and I love the convenience of fast food, fast internet, 70 channels on TV, delivered pizzas...we really have it easy here, and I love it.
I have a Vegas trip next weekend with the guys and I'm looking forward to floating around a pool all day while being waited on like a V.I.P.
…….Later that week…..
I have been busy since I have been back, attempting to fit in all the relaxing things I wanted to do while home, into the short time given. Amanda (my girl) has been running my everywhere all week and has been such a sweetheart. I met her cats since I have been home, interesting characters these cats. I believe one of them is a dog trapped in a cats body, it is the first cat I have ever met that will actually fetch its toy and bring it back to you so you can toss it again. I have been home for 6 days, time is moving to quickly here unfortunately.
……..Later again…….
Vegas was great, stayed at the hard rock hotel, it was a party atmosphere with rock and roll constantly being played everywhere you go, and the amazing pool area always busy with people. I ate good there too, a Mexican restaurant called the pink taco served me a really good burrito, and I had the best cheese sticks ever at a 24 hr. diner they have there.
I spent a couple days with Amanda in Indiana, and my last 2 days at home just lying around. The weight of having to leave really hit me the last day as I watched the hours slip away. I’m looking at least another half a year before I’m back again, and I would have loved to stay home instead. Putting my uniform back on again this morning was actually depressing. Once I arrived at the airport I found that my flight had been cancelled and I was supposed to leave on another flight in a different terminal, I barely made it but was pleasantly surprised to find I had been put in first class (I slept the whole time so I guess I didn’t take full advantage of it).
I’m in Atlanta now at the USO waiting for my departure briefing, and it doesn’t feel so bad going back. I’m sure I will fall right back into my old routines in no time, and it will be just like before…counting down ‘til I get to leave again.
It was a great break, I really needed it and I feel I’m going back recharged to finish this thing out. Sorry about not posting throughout my break but I was just having too much fun, or sleeping. I’ll report again once I’m back to let you all know how I adjusted back to army life. Take care everyone. Troy
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saving chickens...
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Hello friends, today is a special day in American History. 35 years and 9 months ago, my parents planted the seed that would eventually become me. Today is my birthday and to make it extra special I happen to be traveling abroad. Seems like just another day here though, except I was given 2 hours off for lunch instead of one, so that's something. I believe I'll be having some cake with my chili dogs today, prolly wash it all down with a icy cold Mt. Dew as well.
Today at work some of my line medic squad leaders where up at the Aid station getting some practice time in suturing chickens. Not live chickens, that would be the advanced class, I'm not allowed to practice on live chickens I've been told, but we are good at filling up down time with stuff that will keep our skills sharp and this is just one of the many ways we do that.
I will be going home soon, though I'm not allowed to say when. There are Insurgents reading my website (I have a broad fan-base) and they will target any planes flying over Iraq that day if I say when I'm flying out, so for the saftey of those flying with me, I can only say that soon I'll be home. I really am looking forward to taking a break from all the stressers here....not the war, I'm talking about this company. Anyway looking forward to seeing some of you soon, I'll be bringing back some more pics to post, and I'll write up a nice bloggy letting everyone know what I did while I was home. Take care everyone, hope you all are having a great summer. Troy.
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