Twice a week I drive a blind man, Mr. Foster, to his dialysis appointments in San Pablo. He was in Vietnam in the 70's. Like millions, Agent Orange caused his blindness. Agent Orange is a herbicide, used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the War. According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people and soldiers were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. The U.S. has dealt with many lawsuits from the Vietnamese and U.S. Soldiers.
I think it is quite interesting how our government thought something would be beneficial to them and it turned out very different. I have a feeling that they knew what the side effects would be and went ahead with it anyway. My opinion, but I'm thinking money had something to do with. Money makes people and governments do things without thinking of what will happen to millions of people.
Mr. Foster is one my favorite passengers. Tonight, we had a great conversation about Nascar and Jimmy Stewart. Obviously, he can't watch it, but he does listen on the radio. He informed me as to how Nascar started with the involvement of moonshine. When he was in the military long ago, he was at one time stationed in France and dated a girl that took him to the Opera. At first, I didn't see him as an Opera type, but now I notice that is he definitely a very well-rounded guy. I guess that was me judging a book by its cover. With Mr. Foster, you cannot assume. Everytime I pick him up I learn something new.
Last week, I told my Dad that I wanted to make up some business cards so that I could hand them out to my customers. Being the person my Dad is, he offered to do so for me. He typed a verse on the back of them stating, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 I am greatly encouraged by those words. If you think about it, ask me for a card when you see me. My Dad is quite the artistic genius.
To all my hundreds of readers - Thank you for checking in.
To my Dad - Thank you ILY!
In God's Love,
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:19
brandon.
ReplyDeleteyou do quite an awesome job writing this blog. most of the time i get board reading. but i really like your entries.
this one is one of my favorites...
sounds like a cool job? nutty hours.
crazy hrs. i got on last night at 5pm. worked til 5:30 this morning. gona crash and go back in at 3pm. i do enjoy it very much tho. the people i meet r a trip.
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