Slovenia 1991

Posted on October 20, 2002 in Encounters Peace Whimsies

Blaz lived next to an army barracks when the week long Slovenia war of independence erupted. For some reason, his neighborhood was thick with them: he guessed that there were three of the units in a single square mile.

The soldiers inside the barracks stood at the windows pointing their guns at the world. One day Blaz looked over at the barracks and saw a soldier there aiming his AK-47 towards him. He didn’t move. The soldier returned his stare for a long tense moment, then put down his gun, turned around, dropped his pants, and mooned Blaz.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, we laughed, if all wars were fought by lines of men who just mooned each other? Activists like me would be reduced to jocularly quibble about the morality of feeding the troops beans or powerful laxatives before the face off.

Ah, for war as a prank rather than a catastrophe!