No Respect

No Respect

        At least once a week a news clips on my computer shows a surprise G.I. homecoming, with the uniformed parent or spouse dropping in on a kid’s basketball game, showing up at a classroom, popping out of a box or appearing at a workplace.  Some poor kid or spouse is stunned and often brought to tears by this sudden appearance.  But bystanders and audience cheer and applaud the reunion.

        At the risk of seeming unpatriotic, I have to ask:  what is the point?  I fail to see any merit in making these events public and I think they’re an invasion of privacy.  They serve to manipulate the emotions of all the onlookers except the photographers and those that made the arrangements.  The only possible justification I can think of is that somebody thinks they’re a way to build support for our military at a time when support is lagging.  One of these days, some poor kid is going to be embarrassed beyond words as the camera shows him wetting his pants in his emotional turmoil.

        Why does this footage even get shown?  Who edits these clips?  Have they no empathy, no class, no sense?

        Are we so hard up for our own emotional excitement that we’re willing to exploit others and become voyeurs on their lives?  Have we lost our sense of privacy to the point where we agree to and collude in such events?  Is no one considering the emotional toll these reunions take?  Please tell me this is a passing fad that will soon have seen its day.

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