In the US we observed Memorial Day on Monday. Formerly known as remembrance day.
Like many "official" US Federal Holidays on the calendar, it has attracted it's fair share of parasites, opportunists, commercial ventures,both semi-legitimate and outright fraudulent.
Now, being one of those Old Angry White cisMales, I have taken it upon myself to tend to the otherwise "Oh, someone ELSE will do it...." cemetery. (a story of astonishing "Hey, wait...you can't do THAT" in itself)
Part of the regular maintenance is getting the grass, overgrowth cut back, ESPECIALLY for the Memorial Day ceremony.
Local Veterans of Foreign Wars/American Legion/honor guard including *gasp* rifle salute.
Local school band (they were uncharacteristically GOOD this year, but they used a "ringer" for Taps).
Being the Mary Sunshine, Pollyanna that I am, I watched the school kids filing out, right in front of me, toward the bus after the doings, wondering what was in store for them. How many of them were going to end up in foreign, or domestic, "conflict".
As it stands now, I have a hard enough time "imagining" which ones might "take over" personal responsibility for the cemetery.
Because it can be hard, actually COSTS me cash, and there's ALWAYS someone with ZERO callouses to make a political gesture in "Wait a minute, you can't DO that...!" (I've managed to brush the worst of them aside, along with the grass clippings, replaced veteran's marker flags (TY VFW/AL), and discarded plastic flower decorations.)
It's a dirty job, someone has to do it.
Remember Mike Rowe? (Look him up)
The man, who simply left HIM (well,...and me) gob smacked, in reflection of self pity.
FROM: Glen Beck's site "The Blaze"
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/26/mike-rowe-pens-powerful-facebook-post-recalls-the-simple-thing-a-soldier-asked-him-that-left-him-stunned-can-you-imagine/and
http://www.travismills.org/Kind of (re?) inspirational for the "Fuck 'em, just get 'er done" ilk .
Staff Sargent Travis Mills, formerly of the 82nd Airborne, US Army. And he's just ONE.