Perspective

Yesterday, a coworker of mine listened patiently as I told him of my craptastic morning, and then proceeded to commisserate. He was having a bad day, too. But not because of car problems, traffic, bad coffee or whiny cohorts at work.

His country, Israel, had launched an attack against the Hezbollah rebels of Lebanon.

Hezbollah had struck back, sending rockets to Nahariya and other nearby towns.

Mere miles from where his parents, and his brother, live.

His parents assure him they will be safe. Nobody will attack their town. There are plenty of Arabs around them. But are they really safe ? The Arab population in their town is mostly Christian. The rebels may only ignore predominantly-Muslim towns, if they ignore at all. And the rockets of war certainly cannot discriminate one person's lineage or religion from another's.

His brother will fight. He always has, and even at the age of 41, will likely relish the opportunity to return to the depths of war. He enjoys it. He lives for it. It's his passion.

This conflict may cost him his life. That's alright with him, but not with his family.

Sitting in my coworker's car, in the heat and bad traffic, listening to this story, put it all into perspective.

My day yesterday was just fine. Only he, my coworker, had the right to call it craptastic.

My thoughts are with him and his family. I pray that they will be safe.