I think I’m still burned out. Church went fine. But yesterday afternoon I found myself yelling at my brother-in-law in at the annual Hatch gathering for Mothers Day. It doesn’t matter quite how it went down. But I was very unhappy with myself for reacting to him.  Just before we left, I apologized to him.

The frustrating thing is that I came home and googled one of his outrageous claims, the one that had upset me the most, and discovered that he had been accurate in saying that more college students die annually than people in the military. I had been sharing my fears for family members (including bloody Hatches) who were serving in the military.

My fear stems from realizing that although the military can be a way for people to get jobs and education, it is in the end a trade off in which the trade can cost their lives if not ruin them if and when we go to war.

My fears come from a life of objecting to war and watching friends go to war, some of whom were killed.

So Walt, (the brother in law I yelled at), is a retired army recruiter. It’s obvious why he would have that sort of argument up his sleeve. But Dave, Eileen’s brother, actually served in Vietnam. He was, of course, quiet.

On the ride home, Eileen said she was glad I spoke up to Walt. I do think he was upsetting other people in the room besides me with some of his outrageous comments. I am still unhappy that I wasn’t able to keep my cool at a dang family gathering.

It’s interesting to me that I responded to Walt with historical comments. That war kills people and lots of them. Look at the American Civil War. But he is right. More students die annually than armed service personnel at least in 2016. This is even more amazing when you consider how many more people are in the military than in college. But you can google it for yourself.

For my part, I’m glad that I apologized to him. He’s just a goof ball, not really malicious. I also hope that I can keep my resolve to not do this again. Next time, lordy, let me keep my fucking mouth shut.