14 Comments

  1. “There’s a condition in combat. Most people know about it. It’s when a fighting person’s nervous system has been stressed to its absolute peak and maximum, can’t take any more input. The nervous system has either snapped or is about to snap. In the first world war, that condition was called shellshock. Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables: shellshock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. That was seventy years ago.”

    “Then a whole generation went by and the second world war came along, and the very same combat condition was called battle fatigue. Four syllables now. Takes a little longer to say. Doesn’t seem to hurt as much. Fatigue is a nicer word than shock. Shellshock! Battle fatigue.”

    “…Korea, 1950. Madison Avenue was riding high by that time, and the very same combat condition was called operational exhaustion. Hey, we’re up to eight syllables now! And the humanity has been squeezed completely out of the phrase. It’s totally sterile now. Operational exhaustion. Sounds like something that might happen to your car.”

    “…the war in Vietnam, which has only been over for about sixteen or seventeen years, and thanks to the lies and deceits surrounding that war, I guess it’s no surprise that the very same condition was called post-traumatic stress disorder. Still eight syllables, but we’ve added a hyphen! And the pain is completely buried under jargon. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ll bet you if we’d have still been calling it shellshock, some of those Vietnam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time. I’ll betcha that. I’ll betcha that.”

    Now these boys, wait, what? We can’t call them that now? These men and women… still no? Uh these fighting forces… Oh for Christ’s sake. They don’t even fight anymore? I guess I wasn’t wrong all those years ago.” – Carlin’s ghost.

  2. Life boat.

    Aren’t they all life boats? Should we get on the boats that aren’t life boats? Sorry widow Stevens. Your husband knew the risk when he got on the plain old boat. Shoulda picked the life boat.

  3. “George Carlin” is dead. He’s bereft of life. He is an ex-comedian. He’s joined the blooming choir invisible, he rests in peace, he is no more. I know he voted for biden but he’s assumed room temperature, so no matter what someone says he’s done, it ain’t so. Oh and Jimmy Stewart is also dead but will live eternally in my heart with John Wayne and Maureen O’hara.

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