Memorial Day Extended

I opened my inbox this morning to extended holiday sales. Banana Republic offered me 40% off a single item over the weekend and much to my surprise, they are recognizing the sale for one more day. Isn't it amazing how we extend the consumer opportunities of Memorial Day weekend, yet quickly move beyond the honor due to our fallen soldiers?

For as long as our society revels in sales and extended offers, I'm going to do my best to extend the real meaning of Memorial Day.

Almost 225,000 individuals lost their life during the American Civil War. 116,516 were killed in World War I from the US. 405,399 Americans were lost in World War II. Korea: over 36,000. In Vietnam, 58,209 died. 6,280 have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. According to Wikipedia, 1,343,812 American soldiers have paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

These numbers are difficult to comprehend. Attached to every single number is a family and a story. On Sunday, the keynote speaker presented the audience with the numbers above. Simultaneously, in the distance, a car alarm sounded for nearly five minutes. It was eerily ironic. Car alarms were significant decades ago. Now, as an alarm blares, we go about our daily business as if we weren't aware. In fact, we have conditioned our brains to shut out the sound of car alarms. These numbers have become like that car alarm. We tune out the sound and don't even look to see if anything harmful is taking place. Instead, on this day of honor and recognition, we take advantage of seasonal bargains at large retail chains.

Businesses have hi-jacked Memorial Day with deals and sales. Today, they attempted to extend their own glory into the work week. I'm taking it back for Memorial Day to honor those who deserve it.

The amount of honor you give is in relation to the amount of value you perceive. I value our servicemen. And you should, too. Everything is better when honor is there.

Thank you, Veterans.