I know you think times are tough now. Our former president left us with two unfinished wars, a financial crisis, homes being foreclosed upon, car manufacturers on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, and banks failing. I think its time for a little perspective. Times have been rougher. Say for instance, in France from 1914 to about 1950. These ladies pictured above have had their heads shaved after the liberation of Paris from the Germans. These women were thought to be, and probably were "collaborators", or women who consorted with Nazis for fun or profit. Some probably deserved much worse punishment, others much less. In any, case these were desperate times, n'est pas?
Here's a French lady who has somehow made it through the war alive. She's showing her appreciation to some American soldiers by sharing her pre-war stash of wine. Her part of France was now free, but it would be years before the country was back to it's pre-war prosperity. As a child, in the 1950's, my mother would tell me to finish what was on my dinner plate because the kids in Europe were starving. We aren't suffering like that right now.
You can see these women are having the time of their lives, moving back into the recently liberated town of Maretz, France in 1918. They return to a war-torn town not knowing what they will be able to salvage, if anything, from their former lives. The worst was over, but they still have lots of tough times ahead to re-build their lives.
The caption on this photo from World War I said the woman was selling oranges to the soldiers as they marched off to the front. Who would you rather be? The soldiers going off to the trenches, to possibly make the ultimate sacrifice? Or the French woman reduced to selling oranges to the soldiers that have come to fight the Germans, their common enemy? Wow. Times were tough.
And finally, here are a couple of French ladies at a sidewalk bistro in Paris enjoying the peace and good times between the two wars. Good times have returned at least for a few years, before the next invasion. They could not know that in a few more years Europe would be enveloped in another war.
I know you think times are tough now. Our former president left us with two unfinished wars, a financial crisis, homes being foreclosed upon, car manufacturers on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, and banks failing. I think its time for a little perspective. Times have been rougher. Say for instance, in France from 1914 to about 1950. These ladies pictured above have had their heads shaved after the liberation of Paris from the Germans. These women were thought to be, and probably were "collaborators", or women who consorted with Nazis for fun or profit. Some probably deserved much worse punishment, others much less. In any, case these were desperate times, n'est pas?
Here's a French lady who has somehow made it through the war alive. She's showing her appreciation to some American soldiers by sharing her pre-war stash of wine. Her part of France was now free, but it would be years before the country was back to it's pre-war prosperity. As a child, in the 1950's, my mother would tell me to finish what was on my dinner plate because the kids in Europe were starving. We aren't suffering like that right now.
You can see these women are having the time of their lives, moving back into the recently liberated town of Maretz, France in 1918. They return to a war-torn town not knowing what they will be able to salvage, if anything, from their former lives. The worst was over, but they still have lots of tough times ahead to re-build their lives.
The caption on this photo from World War I said the woman was selling oranges to the soldiers as they marched off to the front. Who would you rather be? The soldiers going off to the trenches, to possibly make the ultimate sacrifice? Or the French woman reduced to selling oranges to the soldiers that have come to fight the Germans, their common enemy? Wow. Times were tough.
And finally, here are a couple of French ladies at a sidewalk bistro in Paris enjoying the peace and good times between the two wars. Good times have returned at least for a few years, before the next invasion. They could not know that in a few more years Europe would be enveloped in another war.
1 comment:
Thank you for the "perspective". I keep thinking that as FDR said..."We have nothing to fear, but fear itself"...but people seem to be completely irrational in some areas right now.
I think if we can all try to take care of ourselves as best we can...get help if you need it...and give help where you can...that we will weather these recent crises and come out whole at the other end.
Thus Spake Luke the Philosopher!
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