On a whim…

Every citizen has a duty to perform. Some of us choose to fulfill that through military service. When someone learns I am a veteran, they often say, “Thank you for your service.”

I should probably reply, “It was an honor.” But I don’t. I pause.

Because truthfully, I feel a mix of embarrassment and frustration—embarrassment that I don’t quite know how to receive the thanks, and frustration that such words sometimes seem to serve as a kind of inoculation, as if my service relieves others of the duty we all share.

What I wish I could say is this: “Don’t thank me as though my service absolves you. Do your duty too.”

Even better, I would love to hear someone say:
“Meeting a veteran reminds me that I also have a duty to my country, my community, my neighbors. Here’s one way I’ve been living that duty… Thank you for reminding me.”

Because service, after all, was never meant to be mine alone. It belongs to us all.