To Walk a Mile

So, I'm on my home and I'm listening to public radio and there's this piece about a guy who is driving around the country in a U-Haul truck filled with 1500 pairs of boots. Each pair of boots represents a fallen solider in Iraq. This is depressing, right? But, then the depression turned to a sort of intrigue. The kind of intrigue that hits when you're really not interested, but something about the whole thing takes hold of you.

So, I get to thinking, is he trying to make some kind of statement? I mean, what kind of person feels it necessary to drive around and set up 1500 pairs of boots in nice rows with names and pictures attached to them? Very odd. At first I was feeling sad about the whole thing. All those kids killed for what? American freedom? Nope. To keep people safe? Nope. For democracy? Nope.

None of these explanations ring true and yet the truth of the matter is that they are dead and some dude is displaying their boots and it's not even their own boots, just a pair of random boots purchased from army surplus store. Maybe he thought it would be a nice way to see the country. It's all very strange. Maybe I'm missing something, but my observation that people are weird has been confirmed once again.