Going to the middle east.

In 1991 I was a college student. My girlfriend at the time was worried about a possible draft, but I was not. There was a war brewing, but I was shamefully carefree. Watching the footage on TV it all seemed so far away, almost abstract. I had no emotional attachment to what I was seeing.

Last week was different, but why?

I am twelve years older. I am no longer a college student, and I work for a living. I have a daughter. All of these things change your life, but do they change the person you are? Now the images I see have some meaning, but what did the trick? Is it the different circumstances under which hostilities have begun? Have my circumstances changed my perspective? Is it some combination of the two; or, is it something else entirely? Either way, I can’t say I’m carefree this time around.