My father is a commercial real estate developer so recently he got a call about a armed robbery at one of his shopping centers. A guy had pulled up to a woman coming out from the grocery store, aimed a gun at her and told her to give him her purse. She refused. He drove off scared.
My reaction was that the lady was very brave to be able to look at a guy holding a gun at her and refuse to give him her purse. Then my dad snickered and said it was stupidity. I agreed but then pointed out that the president made the decision to go headfirst into this war and it was a brave move that is considered stupid by what was it? half the US population including myself. But I do not deny it as a courageous move.
Then it was a brave (and I think stupid) move for my sister-
(who is the most conservative…wont watch anything Focus on the Family says is bad…tells me Im a terrible human being and will have gay children because I watch Ugly Betty (there is a gay 9 year old in the show)…watches/reads Bill O’Reilly every night, extremely sheltered/naive, you get my point)
-to tell some guys in the street that were selling drugs in front of her friend’s crummy apartment door in the apartment complex hallway to go find another place to do that “like some alley or something” and even slammed her friend’s door in their faces and they ended up going away. Her friend remains alive to this day.
Shes the biggest idiot Ive ever known in my life.
(whos also a top student at her first tier law school shes at, which I find extremely paradoxical-I thought everyone at the top of their classes were the smartest ones, yeah? sarcasm)
I think that soldiers in good situations in their lives even before going to the military
(and anyone choosing to go to military over other options) are brave people.
an extreme example being Pat Tillman turning down the 3.6 million Cardinals contract to enlist in the Army and ended up dying. My boyfriend at the moment all that was going on, who was very cold-hearted probably will always be-told me after reading an article on Tillman that he thought he was the biggest idiot alive for turning down that contract and going to die but I consider that bravery.
My dad agreed with me on this yet he still thinks that that lady was stupid for doing what she did and said that 99% of everybody I ask will fully agree with him on that view and thus proceeded to acting full of himself.
I then suggested that perhaps there are different levels of bravery. Of course I dont think it is intelligent to refuse to give money by the risk of your own life but I think it was brave she could do so at the same time.