I tend to observe Veterans Day mainly by getting irritated about two things: (1) It should still be Armistice Day. Our nation’s casual dilution (to the point of eradication) of our collective memory of World War I is appalling. (2) Some well-meaning person might look me gravely in the eye and solemnly thank me "for my service." To which I'm inclined to reply, "Thank you for thanking me -- but please don't." Some vets really do deserve special thanks for one extraordinary set of circumstances or another. But most of us just don’t. Most of us did our mostly mundane, low-risk jobs; we were paid (in some cases and in some respects, pretty darn well), we were generally (not always, but generally) treated way better than most other people on earth, and then we were discharged -- with continuing benefits of one kind or another. And that was about that. So by all means, let's thank those who've earned it -- today and every day. But for the rest of us, a friendly wave will do nicely. Today and every day.
All that said, here’s something that persuaded me to give the grouchy old jerk thing a rest (for a couple minutes, anyway):
http://www.npr.org/...