Thankless Cliché

In a self race to the bathroom
At an over convenience store
I found myself not passing
The turtle in his non race pace
Sauntering to same location
Walled in by the displays which
Gave me the unfortunate
Opportunity to read his hat
.
Which read……Thank A Vet
.
No chance, I passed him near
The entrance to get an open stall
.
Where I had the chance to think
What was I supposed to thank
That vet for, had he saw my, plight
Stepped aside, I would have said
.
Thanks
.
Assuming the hat wearer was a vet
Since the cap covering colors were
Of a post military camouflage and
Not with insignias of cats and dogs
Should vet have meant veterinarian
.
I would have thanked anyone
.
However, in my pooping pondering
I wondered the arbitrary message
Of the velcro hat band’s lettering
Which as I said read…Thank A Vet
.
If you have read this blog at all
It presents information to question
Usually in dichotomous forms that
If x means y it could also mean z
.
Clichés are easiest for their triteness
.
A random thank you is as meaningless
As the definition of meaningless
(Which technically “should” be the one
Word in the dictionary without a definition)
.
Meaningless : __________________________
.
Still, contemplating the cliché
I try to understand its suggestion
.
What if that individual veteran was
Involved in a “friendly fire” incident
Is that something to be thankful for
Certainly, not by the “mistaken” casualties
.
If while shooting at an alleged enemy
Every shot missed its intended target
Should he be thanked for his bad aim
Since no one died in the incident
.
Maybeeee I am supposed to thank him
Fot making hats, not sure, didn’t get to
Read the front of his hat which may
Have read “If you like this hat…..”
.
Though in all ironic likelihood the hat
Was made where previous veterans
Cleared the foliage for democracy
Or hats, shoes, shirts and sweatshops
.
Something else I noticed, it is always
A dude with that hat or t-shirt message
Never do I see that directive on a purse
A frilly bonnet or on high heeled pumps
.
Giving further credence to the sexist
Systems of society that the work that
Females / women / do, unfortunately
Go unthanked on a daily / life basis
.
Let alone, the very few monikers
Assigned to the typically nurturing
Life bringer half of the population have
The Gilead-ian tone of being Of-men
.
(Fe)males, (Wo)men all because of
Some old book in its opening chapters
The authors job of convincing society
Their mere existence is due to rib surgery
.
(Ooops, sorry, got sidetracked
That’s for a different post for another time)
.
Not needing to flatter a fragile ego
For allegedly protecting freedom which
Is absolutely impossible to protect
Lest everyone else has a different
Definition of freedom then I do
.
Which could free my mind from the
Gnawing notion that my tax dollars
In large part, subsidize the funding of
The military industrial complex where
Under the guise of “protecting” freedom
People are trained to kill people
.
Where is their freedom “protectors”
.
Not because they are taking any
“Freedoms” away, rather just being
In the wrong place, residing on
Sovereign soil that has a resource
Criminal corporations can harvest
.
An oldie, but a goodie…
.
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”

– Smedley D. Butler, 

“War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America’s Most Decorated Soldier:
.
As long as this is about hat messages
.
“You know what gives me the creeps about the Vietnam vets, they have this obsession with wearing the hat.
.
They have to let you know they’re a Vietnam vet. They all wear the baseball hat with the gold leafs and the platoon and the year. “Dang Wang, ’68 to ’70, Vietnam vet.”
.
Why the fuck would you wear that hat? Did you forget how brutally fucked over by your own government you got on that deal? And you wear a hat celebrating it?
.
Nixon, in his own words in the Nixon tapes, talks openly and casually about delaying the withdrawal of troops just so he can win reelection.
.
“Fuck ’em if thousands more die. I need this gig again.” – Richard Nixon
.
And then you’re wearing a hat. They fucked you over and then sold you merch after the gig.
.
How bad do you need someone to buy you a Pabst Blue Ribbon down at the VFW?
.
That’s like a rape victim walking around in a pink trucker cap that says, “Molested, step-brother, ’82 to ’86.” “Hey, girls, where’s all the fun at?”
.
– Doug Stanhope