Thumbs Up

I’m not sure where the children of Afghanistan got the idea, but it seems every town we drive through, the kids run out to the side of the road to give the American convoy the thumbs up. Sometimes it’s just a thumbs up, sometimes they yell too, and most of the time little children are running over each other to get out to the road. All to give a fleeting convoy of Americans a thumbs up.

I’m not sure at what age they stop doing this, but there are definitely no adults giving us the thumbs up. However, whether people wave or do nothing but watch us go by, everyone seems to stop what they are doing to see the convoy. I would have thought that with having the coalition forces here since 2001, most people would be used to seeing military vehicles and think nothing of them. It doesn’t seem that way. One of the guys here said “it’s like we are the newest show on TV and everyone wants to see.”

Most of the time I wave and smile, but I never get used to everyone in town stopping what they are doing to watch us. Hopefully someday soon there won’t need to be military vehicles rolling through their towns, and when there are, they will look at them with bewilderment, just as Americans would if a convoy of humvee’s came rolling down our streets.

Thank you and God Bless.