Appreciation

Apparently, it's Fleet Week.  I don't actually know what that means, and since I'm too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia, all that I've noticed was that there were lots of little groups of men and women in uniform in Manhattan.  Obviously, a sight like this makes me proud and happy knowing that I am a part of the big family of the U.S. military, but I also wondered what the New Yorkers thought of it.  It's easy to brush off New Yorkers as being too busy and self-absorbed to care, because really, when do they ever stop and give you the time of day while speedily dodging past on the sidewalk?  I was surprised, then, when I was walking slightly behind a group of three young women in Navy uniforms, and a man walking past cheerily said, "Thank you, ladies!"  The women looked at each other and giggled, and I couldn't help smiling as well.