Pissed off epiphany

Today was the last day of the T-SIRT course. The graduation was as smooth as I've seen. It might have been a trifle better if anyone had told me Roll Call was moved up by fifty minutes, so Maia and I got there late.

Maia, to avoid offending anyone (which happened at Walter Reed) left her hat, with the "War is Not the Answer" and "Get US out of Vietnam Iraq" slogans in the car.

Ceremony done I changed my clothes and we went to brekkie, and did a spot of antiqueing in Paso Robles.

Then we stopped for gas, and I noticed I'd lost the gas cap the last time I got gas.

Sigh.

So we went across the street and got a gas cap.

While we were in line a woman came in, as the clerk was talking to Maia about the "War is Not the Answer" slogan (which is on the front) and this woman came in and got offended by the "Get US out of Vietnam Iraq" on the back. She, a bit more than muttered, "I thing that's offensive, my husband is over there defending your right to do that."

Maia commented that her fiancee was in the service and she said something to the effect of so what, she was disgusted; which was when I decided I'd had enough.

At this point she was at the other end of the store and I piped in, so she could plainly hear me, "I'm in the service, and if he's fighting to defend her right to do something then she ought to get to do it. You shouldn't be disgusted, you ought to be proud."

She, with less fervor, and the loss of her tone of offended superiority, sort of muttered, "Well I disagree."

At which point, lest I get really pissed off, I left.

It pointed out to me one of the things which offends me about that line of attack (and it's attack, not argument); the sense of being better than those with whom they disagree. Her husband is in Iraq, defending our rights, and because she's married to him she gets to put on airs when someone hurts her feelings.

Bullshit. She might get to pull the holier than thou crap if she were in the service, but even that's a stretch.

Me, I do feel proud when someone disagrees with the Gov't, no matter how I feel about the position. What they are agitating for may bother me, but if they can't agitate, then something a lot worse than what they want is happening (well, maybe the people plumping the Dominionist cause aren't worse than that, but only just).

Rights are not a zero sum game, and Maia exercising hers in no way diminishes those of the people she diasgrees with.

Like I said, she ought to be proud.