Thanks, Veterans!

If the sparse traffic didn’t alert you that today is a holiday, I will. Today is Veteran’s Day. I celebrated by being stuck in a room with 107 other beancounters discussing recent pronouncements in the auditing world. I’m sure you don’t have to be told what kind of a party that is. The instructor was making his introduction to the group and he mentioned surprise at the promptness of the participants. Somebody remarked that the holiday probably contributed to the lite traffic, allowing everyone to be on time. The instructor was caught a bit off guard and had to ask what holiday we were supposed to be celebrating. He was informed that it’s veteran’s day. “Huh!” he said. “I’m a veteran. How many other veterans do we have here?” With that, maybe 4 or 5 men sheepishly raised a hand. There was a moment of awkward silence and then I rose to my feet. I began clapping loudly and nodding my head. If you don’t know me, I should tell you that I’m not a “life-of-the-party, make-a-spectacle-of-myself” kind of guy so this was uncharted territory for me. I risked making myself look like a total ass. These guys are worth it. After about 5 seconds of clapping by myself (which felt like about 5 hours) I said loudly, “Get up you bastards and give these men a hand! Go on! Get outta your seat! I see you over there… Don’t make me come over there and get you outta that chair!” A few folks started clapping and then a few more. A few rose to their feet and before I knew it, the entire place was on its feet in raucous applause. It was a wonderful experience and I have goosebumps sitting here typing about it. The men who served sat humbly with beaming grins on their faces. I began shaking the hand of an old veteran next to me and patting him on the back. A few others followed my lead and did the same. It was a very strange experience, almost surreal.

At the first break a feeble old man approached. With tears in his eyes he said to me, “Young man, I’d like to shake your hand. While driving in today I wondered if anybody would remember what today was. It looked like it wasn’t going to happen. You’ve given an old man a wonderful gift. Thank you.” The others stood in a line waiting to shake my hand. Each told me how moved they were to be honored by such a simple gesture. I was completely humbled and awed. These men, who gave so selflessly, were moved by simple applause. We truly have the best of the best in America.