We and They. Us and Them

English 101

I have never been greatly proficient in the area of English grammar and composition. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you already know this. I can switch tenses in the middle of a sentence faster than you would have been able to keep up. See there?

We and They. Us and Them. Do you ever struggle with proper usage of these words? We and They are generally used as subject pronouns (We went to the ballpark.... They lost the game.) Us and Them are generally object pronouns (She shared her popcorn with us.... I gave the extra tickets to them.)

We is the nominative plural of I. They is the nominative plural of he, she, and it. Us is the objective case of We. Them is the objective case of They. English grammar and composition. Boring stuff.

One of my favorite records in my music collection is the 1973 Pink Floyd album, "The Dark Side of the Moon." One of the tracks, written by Richard Wright and Roger Waters, is titled "Us and Them."


The opening lyrics say:

"Us and them. And after all, we're only ordinary men.
Me and you. God only knows it's not what we would choose to do."

The meaning of the lyrics are generally accepted to be about war. Two sides to the conflict divided as "us " and "them" when, in fact, both sides are comprised of "ordinary men." And the song eludes to the fact that no one in their right mind would ever deliberately choose war over some other remedy.

I guess it has always been Us and Them. Not just in reference to war. But also human nature.

When we say the word "us" in day-to-day conversation, we usually just mean more than one person with something in common. "Meet us for dinner at Carrabba's." (That actually sounds like a pretty good idea!) Us. You know... US!

But when we talk politically, religiously, culturally... well, then "Us" or "We" takes on a completely different meaning. Here's where we start to divide the goats from the sheep.

Have you heard this lately?

"Look what is happening to Us."
"We shouldn't have to put up with this."
"We want things to be the way they used to be. (For Us.)"
"This country belongs to Us."
"We don't believe that."

When there is an Us or a We....there is inevitably a Them or a They that is being silently referenced.

"Look at what They are doing."
"Why don't you ask Them?"
"Do you know what They believe?"
"They started it."
"They are trying to take over."

Maybe there is not a traditional war being fought right now like World War II where the good guys (Us) are fighting against the evil axis powers (Them) but... make no mistake... we are at war in the United States right now. Watch the news. Read the paper. Go on social media (it's not so "social" right now... btw)

We are at each other's throats.
The Supreme Court says that same sex couples should be allowed to marry. So it's Us and Them.
A Confederate flag was taken down in Columbia, SC. So it's more Us and Them.

You wanna pick a fight? Are you angry? At who? THEM?

Our foundational document in the Library of Congress starts with the word "We."

"We the People of the United States..." That's us. All of us.
"...in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States."

How are WE doing these days? How are YOU doing regarding these things?

a more perfect Union...(union means the state of being united)
establish Justice
domestic tranquility
promote general Welfare
secure the Blessings of Liberty

We've got way too much Us and Them right now.

Maybe we all should walk in the shoes of "Them" for a little while and see if maybe we have more important things in common than what we are disagreeing on.

Maybe we are all supposed to be Us.

I think I'll listen to my Pink Floyd album for a while.

Home of the brave

When I was 8 years old, my Mom remarried and my brother, sister and I became military brats. My stepfather was a Marine and we proceeded through the remainder of my childhood years to move to Boston, MA (Boston Navy Shipyard), Jacksonville, NC (Camp Legeune), Beaufort, SC (Parris Island), Keene, NH (back "home" while my stepfather served in Vietnam), Berwick, ME and Rochester, NH (Portsmouth Navy Shipyard), and Augusta, GA (Fort Gordon.) I had some issues with my stepfather with regards to his role as husband and father but I had great respect for his being a Marine and serving our country. Unfortunately, he died several years ago. In my formative years, I developed a great love and admiration for all the men and women that put on the uniform and put their lives on the line ...for us. Nothing has changed that emotion in me.

Today I have a nephew who is a Marine serving somewhere in Afghanistan, a son-in-law who is an Army aviator flying Blackhawks in Korea, and another nephew who is currently going through Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas. All three are young guys with their whole lives ahead of them. One happens to be married to my precious daughter who is with him in Korea. I love them all. I am sometimes overwhelmed by their willingness to voluntarily become part of such a dangerous occupation.

On Saturday, a Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, killing everyone on board... 30 Americans and 8 Afghan soldiers....a tragedy made even more sensational by the sheer number that perished at one time. A tragedy even more noticed because we heard that members of the elite SEAL Team 6 were on board... commandos from the same group that killed Osama bin Laden.

Words fail us when we try to describe how we felt when we heard this news. These were brave soldiers, actually coming to the aid of a ground team that had come under heavy fire from Taliban forces. We collectively grieve with the families of these soldiers. Their deaths will make us question whether the price being paid by our men and women is worth it.

Does it take 30 Americans killed by a single RPG to make us question whether it is time to bring our men and women home? How about the one brave Marine that was killed by a sniper last week? How about the 2 Army soldiers who were killed when their vehicle ran over an IED 6 months ago? Are their deaths not enough to generate the same questions?

Am I selfish for wanting my family members to be out of harm's way? Am I unpatriotic to say let's bring all our men and women home from a war that I do not, after 10 long years, understand anymore?

I cry inside for the 30 brave Americans that perished on Saturday...but I cry no less for the one American that will die tomorrow...or last week. Their deaths, however, won't (or didn't) make the headlines.

America...Home of the brave? You're damn right. But I hope we are also brave enough to know when enough blood has been spilled in a decade long war.