I Take It Personally!

Trying not to complain usually isn’t a difficult task for me. I like to heal a wound and move on to higher ground. Most of what people do and say I can manage to take with a grain of salt. The old adage of not taking something someone says to you personally is a practiced art form, but while I endeavor to follow the credo, I still have a degree of difficulty with it at certain times.

This week, an event occurred which I took personally, and will always feel the way I do about it.

While I have stated my feelings in past blogs, I must repeat a point or two as a reminder of the emotions I will never hide, I will always take personally, and will continue to wear on my sleeve.

As a boy of nineteen years of age, I found myself serving my country in the infantry of the United States Army. Frankly, at that attained age I had not yet felt my mortality, and therefore was not gripped with the extent of fear a great many men in my position were experiencing twenty-four/seven.

What I was experiencing and feeling as deeply as anything I had ever felt in my life was pride. I’ve said it before, and here I go again. My mom and dad came to this country as immigrants. Their love of the United States was displayed as unabashedly as any two parents could. That’s the kind of house I grew up in. It was a trait in them I strove to emulate. They would both be proud to know I have succeeded.

When the American flag was unfurled before us in preparation for our very first army parade, my emotions rose much higher than pitching a no-hitter for the first time in high school. I so totally took it personally. Harvey Kalmenson had been selected to defend his country: The United States of America. I think you might be getting my point. If not… I won’t be taking it personally.

Anyone visiting our place of business on Sparks St. in Burbank always knows when da harv is present and accounted for. I always place an American flag, as personal as it gets, on display up front for all to see. Da harv is in the building.

This week, my American flag was stolen. Whoever the culprit may be, I do not and will never wish them well.