In Out In

I find it interesting that Chicago O'Hare is attempting to resolve a social problem with a "technical" solution.

Having gotten on the train and off the train, I'm pretty sure their solution wasn't working.

I boarded the train at one end today, to travel to the other end. At the first stop, a whole slew of people boarded the train, forcing me to pull all of my bags close. In a few moments, I was surrounded by a group of six people: five men and one woman (who reminded me of Martha a LOT). I say "men" but I really want to say "boys." They all looked about 19, maaaaaaaaaaaybe 20, but none old enough to drink.

They were all Navy recruits.

Based on their conversation, they were on their way from training to either more training, or deployment.

As I watched, I couldn't help but think they're only kids. They were all so young, all with what should be long lives ahead of them. I nearly wanted to cry. Okay, yes, they're adults, they're allowed to make their own decisions. They have even probably made the best decisions for their own situations. But seeing their faces, hearing their voices, feeling them so close, I couldn't help but feel bitter at the bastards in Washington who thought spending 200 billion dollars on a farce of a war, who thought sending these people off to die so that the rich could get richer, who thought following the village idiot, was a good thing.