Spc. Alexis Hutchinson is being both praised and reprimanded for choosing to stay home with her son instead of deploying to Afghanistan.  I myself am torn on the issue.  Part of me is like, “Let that Mama stay home with her baby!”…..while the other part understands the commitment a person makes when they sign on the Army’s clear and dotted line.  Everyone is required to sign Form D-A 53-05, a form that specifically states that failure to put together a family care plan while you are away on deployment could result in disciplinary action.  So it’s not like this was new news….Hutchinson knew the drill.

According to Hutchinson’s civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, Hutchinson was informed by her superiors that she WOULD be deploying and her son was placed in foster care.  After 10 days, Hutchinson’s mother stepped in and agreed to take the boy…albeit grudgingly.  Apparently she’s stressed out with having to take care of other ailing family members and running a daycare out of her house five days a week.  I guess the problem I have is that in the middle of rules, regulations, complaints and paperwork, there’s a 10 month old kid getting bounced around like a rubber ball.   Yes, Alexis Hutchinson knew exactly what she was required to do…what she was being paid to do.  I’ve been reading comments that say stuff like, “Women wanted equality, well here you go then!”  Or, “Maybe she’s related to a ‘Katrina’ victim…they sure know how to work over the system.”  Myself personally, I don’t have enough facts and info to make judgments about whether or not she’s trying to weasel out of deployment.

What I do know is that Hutchinson signed a binding contract that super-glued her soul to the United States Army.  And I don’t see an unwed mother who broke the rules standing a chance at winning a legal battle with the Army.  Over 30,000 single mothers have already deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan….and I’m willing to bet they don’t feel a whole lot of  sympathy for those who can’t “keep up”.  As civilians, we are clueless about how things work in the military.  Broken families, back-t0-back deployments, mental fatigue, wrecked marriages…this is, sadly, what has become the norm for most military families.  To give the Army some credit here, they were emphatic about stating that they would not deploy a single parent without anyone to care for their child.

One word that I hated hearing my Mother say over and over…and the word that I find myself telling my own daughter….CONSEQUENCES.  And for Spc. Alexis Hutchinson…it looks like she’ll be living with those for quite some time.

What?!  Two days in a row??  Surely I do not jest.

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Are we even surprised by this? Seriously. Are we? I’m no body-language expert, but I’m thinking that when the cameras go away, there’s a boxing ring in the Gosselin basement where Kate commences to whoopin’ Jon’s booty senseless when prying eyes are no longer around. That’s speculation on my part. Can you feel the love here? Can you?

Maybe Kate woke up one morning, took a long look at herself in the mirror and said: “That’s it. I’m fixin’ to bend it like Beckham, ya’ll. Call my stylist. Jon, get outta my face.” I could be WAY off base here…but I’m thinking I see a copy-cat-neener-neener.

Oh. Like we’d be any different if we had cameras on us 24 hours a day? Would we really want our lives broadcast across a nation with minimal editing? I highly doubt it.

And I’m sure Jon has gotten some sound legal advice over the past week or so.

“Son. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

This is a struggling family from the Great Depression of 1929:

80 years later…this is a family from the Great Recession of 2009:

What’s the difference? One is in color, the other is not? Hardly. Sure, we’re smack dab in the middle of the worst economic times we’ve ever seen. But in comparison to 1929, are things really that bad? Very few even had a job back then and there were NO unemployment checks and health benefits to help out. Government provided meager food rations to each family but it was hardly enough to sustain them. If they were lucky enough to get a piece of meat they saved the bones, fat and gristle to be used down the road. They saved and ate parts of vegetables and fruits that we would find inedible today. If a neighbor was in need, they shared what little they had. Shoes were considered a luxury, so they wore the same pair, tacking old pieces of cardboard or material over the holes. When the rice was gone, the container was reused. Communities bound themselves tightly together, determined to pull everyone safely to the other side. And during all of this….they remained thankful.

And where are we at today? Crime is on the rise, neighbors are fighting with each other, people are trampled to death for the sake of commerce. Our country has an epidemic of obesity, so we’re certainly not starving. The homeless shelters and soup kitchens today would have been luxurious back then. There has been a steep rise in the amount of prescribed anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. When our pants rip or buttons fall, we throw them into the back of the closet and go get something else. We’re certainly not thankful; if anything, we’re demanding and feel we’re entitled.

I’ve heard countless religious leaders and community leaders declare this is all God’s doing. God’s way of showing us who’s boss. I hardly think that’s the case. God is merciful and just. Remember? No….I’m sure God is the saddest among us. WE are what got us here. Our selfishness, our ruthless greed. Our inability to be thankful for what we have instead of complaining about what we DON’T have.

Things have a way of righting themselves. It’s the law of nature. Kind of like beating a dog. You can keep flogging it and flogging it…and eventually it will turn on you with a vengeance. Life is pretty much the same way. Maybe the great lesson in all of this is humility and simplicity. Maybe we’re being forced as a nation to remember our roots…what’s truly important.

There is great truth in the famous saying, “Life is what you make it.” Even in the worst of times, a positive mindset has a way of turning an ordinary brick into a bar of gold. So instead of thinking about what you’re missing…try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.