Homer
[edit]sorry about how drunk this post is
Military life. How can I best describe it to those of you who arent acquainted.
I'm afraid i can only expound on the life of the enlised and not on the life of the officer. Sailors spend as much time as they can pretending that they are not in the military. It is an all encroaching force, a presence. Every move you make- going to shave in the morning- is the product of some military order or other. I drink coffee because I am required to keep my back straight during class. I sleep less than I would like because a senior chief said that I need to put in fourty hours of studying this week.
I made phase two this weekend. I am now allowed to operate a vehicle, and to wear civilian clothes on weekends, and, perhaps most important of all, I am allowed to drink(on weekends). Essentialy, this allowes me to be a civilian on weekends, and this is what every sailor longs for- the irresponsibility that came with civilian life. What I can deduce from this universal want, is that on the whole, sailors are sorry they joined. They don't mind the money, the benefits- but they wish they could have done the same on the civilian side. Eventually, military life becomes an ever present inconvenience, a fact of life that resembles a disease- which requires special accomodation, carries it's own stigmas and entails it's own community of fellow sufferers. I personally will be glad after six years, when I can provide my own health care, build my own house, or even grow my own food. I will bend the law, break the law, and work as much as I want to work. I will run and throw and stretch, not because I need to pass an assesment, but because my body demands it, and loves it. I will be strong and sharp, and military- without the military...but I'll listen as much to my fancy as to my fucking military grit. So I must say, this was a good thing- If my life is enriched by diverse experience, than this is just another chapter in my Iliad. But one day I'll find Penelope, and let the arrow fly, and I'll take my place as the king of my Island.
Military life. How can I best describe it to those of you who arent acquainted.
I'm afraid i can only expound on the life of the enlised and not on the life of the officer. Sailors spend as much time as they can pretending that they are not in the military. It is an all encroaching force, a presence. Every move you make- going to shave in the morning- is the product of some military order or other. I drink coffee because I am required to keep my back straight during class. I sleep less than I would like because a senior chief said that I need to put in fourty hours of studying this week.
I made phase two this weekend. I am now allowed to operate a vehicle, and to wear civilian clothes on weekends, and, perhaps most important of all, I am allowed to drink(on weekends). Essentialy, this allowes me to be a civilian on weekends, and this is what every sailor longs for- the irresponsibility that came with civilian life. What I can deduce from this universal want, is that on the whole, sailors are sorry they joined. They don't mind the money, the benefits- but they wish they could have done the same on the civilian side. Eventually, military life becomes an ever present inconvenience, a fact of life that resembles a disease- which requires special accomodation, carries it's own stigmas and entails it's own community of fellow sufferers. I personally will be glad after six years, when I can provide my own health care, build my own house, or even grow my own food. I will bend the law, break the law, and work as much as I want to work. I will run and throw and stretch, not because I need to pass an assesment, but because my body demands it, and loves it. I will be strong and sharp, and military- without the military...but I'll listen as much to my fancy as to my fucking military grit. So I must say, this was a good thing- If my life is enriched by diverse experience, than this is just another chapter in my Iliad. But one day I'll find Penelope, and let the arrow fly, and I'll take my place as the king of my Island.