Sergeant (the lover) Billy

Sergeant Billy had been in the army for nearly 2 decades. He boasted of having had a woman in every country and at every base he’d been stationed, as well as in countries he had visited. By his own admission, the women he had “had” were prostitutes, bought and paid for. Billy was convinced that the quantity of his sexual encounters qualified him to be titled lover. Although some of the young soldiers agreed with the sergeant, most of us referred to Billy as “the lover” in a less-than-admirable tone.

This is a true story from nearly 60 years ago. Times and attitudes have changed since then. Although almost everyone now regards Billy as a sorry figure, many, many people have adopted Billy’s perspective of status. “Billy-like” netizens have infested social media with pictures and stories promoting their own value as witnessed by the things and services they have bought. We see a picture of a glass of status liquid; a plate of exquisite food; a view of a luxury hotel, quaint foreign village, pristine beach, etc. And let’s not forget the selfies at parties where twisted smiles and finger-sprouting hand gestures show moments of alcohol-enhanced, envy-generating happiness. Ditto for texts, tweets and messages.

Billy’s status, even by his own measurements, was about to be shattered by the love-is-all-you-need generation. We’re now in the money-is-all-you-need generation. And things are heating up. A new shattering is approaching.

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”The leaf spoke proudly of how high and green it used to be and about all the sun it used to take, but couldn’t remember where it had been or what it had seen.”
Dartwill Aquila

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The West Bank is now the Judea-Samaria area.