A Bloodstain

Memorial Day recalls those who sacrificed themselves. More than soldiers who've died mercifully young on front lines, those who deserve as much honor are those who give up their well being daily as domestic technicians or dungeon workers at companies that don't care whether they die or live. Caregivers and parents painfully and slowly lose their sanity and vitality so someone else can survive or thrive, someone who generally doesn't know how fortunate they are, particularly pampered artists and spoiled children. Someone nurses wounded soldiers, too. Warmongers profit from all equally, but revel over foolish cannon fodder upon which empires are founded, you'll forever find.

Funny how Memorial Day is bracketed by Father's and Mother's Days on calendar. Once organized blog entries around these holiday revelations. With a memetic buildup of buzz and commercials goading spending, one ought to organize some balance against agendas, but why bother when message is blurred by conformity and greed?

Viewed feature film, Le Gamin au Vélo (A Kid with a Bike) directed and written by Jean-Pierre Dardenne (2011, French with subtitles). Schoolboy Cyril gets abandoned by single parent father and suffers consequences of neglect. Driven to regain his missing bike and resume relationship with financially strapped dad, he runs from orphanage straight into trouble. Recovered bike enables his futile quest, gets stolen, and results in escalating confrontations. A hairdresser steps in to change his life despite his churlish behaviors. None of the above holidays hold much meaning in this bleak scenario. All credit goes to an unsung stranger who freely sacrifices and forgives unconditionally. The stain is in the name of his own blood. Social justice keeps families together and lets adults act responsibly. Society can never forget that unless unrelated individuals intervene soon enough, crime ensues.