Letter to the Editor: Of fishing and war

Students, welcome back to school. I want to let you all in on a little bit of advice. Freshmen, in particular, I hope you are reading this.

As you go about your studies and learn those things that will invariably shape you as a person, you will undoubtedly come across an armed services veteran.

There are veterans at IU, and they are typically not difficult to spot. Many are attending as non-traditional students and are, generally, significantly older than their peers.

In your great curiosity to learn about new things, there is one thing that you cannot learn by asking, and that thing is war.

If you have to ask, you will never know. In your eagerness to understand or show appreciation for veterans, please refrain from asking us about our experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan or other foreign wars.

To tell this story differently, I want you to think of the last time you went fishing.

Now try and explain this story to someone who has never gone fishing and has never
before eaten fish.

This other person will want to know where you went fishing, how big was the fish, how long did it take you to catch it, what bait did you use and, above all else, will want to know what the fish tasted like.

Let us suppose that you were able to describe all of these things to another person, but what if you didn’t actually catch any fish?

Would you tell this person that you really did catch a fish so as to satisfy his or her eagerness to know about fishing?

Would you dare to embellish and lie about the size of the fish out of fear that this other person would somehow be disappointed in your career as a fisherman?

More importantly, why would you want, or need, to tell a fishing story to someone who has only the most romantic and sanitized impression of fishing?

He will not understand or appreciate fishing in the same way that you do, and your true sentiment will never be understood.

You can no more accurately describe the nature of fishing to someone who has never fished than a veteran can accurately describe war to someone who has never been.

If you see me on campus, feel free to ask me about politics, the weather, unending road construction in Bloomington or the prices of gasoline.

But, please, don’t ask me to tell you about the time I went fishing.

-Thomas Bulls is a non-traditional student with senior standing majoring in communications and culture.