Last night, I was at the gym watching the Edmonton game, and this kid got on the machine next to mine and we started talking about the game, hockey, and football. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was my tattoo, but he started asking me about joining the military, specifically the Navy. My response, as anyone who knows me would expect, was as long as Bush and his minions are in office and in control of everything, an emphatic no. He’s looking for college money, and he and his friends work different hours, so he didn’t see them much anymore. He stated that he didn’t want to get all his info from a recruiter because he couldn’t trust that info. I suggested that he go to a VFW to talk to the guys there about what they thought, and toss a few beers back with them. That’s when he hit me with the fact that he is 19 years old.

Nineteen. I was three years into my cotract with the Marines when he was born.