Raise your hand if the phone number is easier because of the way it was set up.
In this space, for example, it might have been 877-5NO-SCAM — our state’s Department of Justice phone number (toll free, it’s 877-566-7226) for when we think we’ve been a victim of a scam.
One hundred years ago, the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month was deemed easy to remember. That’s when leaders signed an end to what we now know as World War I.
When the Great War, or European War — turned World War in most accounts on both sides of the Atlantic after the United States became involved — was to end, the leaders of that time knew its significance. More than 16 million were dead and the world was in an infancy with mechanized transportation that had significantly impacted this conflict.
The carnage, from four years of intense fighting, was unfathomable. This treaty, they believed, would mark the end of the war to end all wars.
Perhaps if our electronic age of today had been there a century ago, that crafty 11/11 might not be lost in the shuffle today. Or, then too, it might have gotten lost in a 24-hour news cycle, as happens now.
Much has happened since that war. We’ve had more of them for one thing; it was hardly ended all wars. There’s one now that won’t end.
Like 100 years ago, it has all the latest and greatest available. Back then, hard as it is to image, we’re talking airplanes, tanks and submarines — all relatively new. So were chemical weapons.
The cyber wars of today, which even just 30 to 40 pre-internet years ago would not have crossed our minds, seem a bit of a comparison.
This weekend, and specifically Sunday, we pause for Veterans Day. The nation will mostly mark it on Monday, with a federal holiday. Events in commemoration began this week.
Let us also remember, not only does it mark the end of that first savage war, it also recognizes all veterans. That means living or dead, that yes it is different than Memorial Day.
It means more than a day away from regular activities. We need to stop and pay respect for those who defend us, and our way of living. We’re not the perfect country no more than any other, but our entry to that war signaled our rightful place as a world power and though battered and bruised through the years, we are yet to be pushed from that perch.
What America says and does still matters to the rest of the world. That’s not changing anytime soon.
Make no mistake — we didn’t get here by chance. We certainly owe more than a thank you to our veterans.
This weekend, on Sunday, it’s the least we can do.