Sometimes it's just too much

About 8:50 this morning I lost my temper while trying to explain to a funeral home person why a TV ad should be pulled.

Priscilla and I saw the ad around 7:25. The image was of a man in a Marine Corps uniform saluting a flag while “Taps” played. There were no words spoken or streamed or overprinted – just the U.S. flag, a man saluting and “Taps” playing.

I was immediately angry; not explosively angry, but disturbed angry.

When “Taps” concluded and the name of the funeral home flashed on the screen, I said to Priscilla, “That is not right.”

She said, “No, it isn’t.”

I said, “I’m going to call the funeral home.”

“You should,” she said.

I told the funeral home man that his business was using dead soldiers to sell his product. He said that was not the intent of the ad. That is what I expected him to say. I said that I am a retired Army sergeant and that Priscilla and I have three children, two sons who are Army sergeants and a daughter who is a medically retired Air Force officer. He said something, I don’t remember what. I asked if he had any military service. In a voice the same as J.J. LaRoche, he said he did not. He then began defending the ad.

That was when I lost my temper.

“YOU. DO NOT. UNDERSTAND!” I said in a not-overly-loud voice. I immediately regretted losing my temper. I said, “I need to hang up now.”

I apologized for my temper.

Some business people think they can throw a flag on the screen and a make-believe soldier … We are patriotic! Our Business SUPPORTS THE TROOPS!