The first step...
It's raining. From somewhere in the back of my mind I can hear the perennial words of my former Film-as-Literature teacher. I'm sure she wouldn't say that the rules of cinematography apply to real life, but the symbolic/thematic element of rain as change seems too appropriate to dismiss. This may very well be the beginning of a great change in my life.
This fucking car. I started this morning with two fully functioning windshield wipers. The passenger-side wiper makes a loud groaning noise and stopped mid-swipe, causing the driver's side wiper to get stuck and break. It still moves water on my side, but a metal protrusion scrapes all the way up and down. Oh well, another reason not to renew my 7 month overdue inspection sticker.
1300 Baxter St.
Not exactly what I expected, although I don't really know what else it would be. The building is just another business suite. A small time marketing firm is based just next door to the Navy recruitment office. I can't decide if this is ironic or not.
While the posted hours seem to suggest that the office would be open on a monday afternoon, the lights are off in the Naval recruitment center. Everyone gets lunchtime, I suppose. The doors are open and the lights are on in the Army office, so I sit down and wait. And I wait. And I wait. After 25 minutes I am still the only one in the Army office. It's starting to feel like fate. I knew coming here that I would end up in the Marine Corps office, but I wanted to give other places a chance.
The Air Force is open, and I walk in and sit down. A tallish man with a goofy mustache strides confidently out to greet me. The meeting that follows doesn't even warrant a lengthy description. He sits me down and masterfully delivers a prefabricated speech about how the Air Force will give me lots of money for college, and let me use thier resorts all over the world and it will be fun in the sun all day long. Knowing that he had just given me the chance of a lifetime that I simply couldn't say no to, he asked "So when can I sign you up to be sworn in?"
Well, I mean, I need some time to think.
"Sure, sure, although I don't really know what there is to think about..."
I feel like his offer should be enticing, but something just doesn't feel right. I guess I will go into the Marine office, but I am NOT signing anything.
I'm all set and prepared for the same speech that I got in the Air Force office. I flip through a History of the Marine Corps book for a moment before Staff Seargent 'K' comes out to greet me. I follow him into his office and sit across from him. He looks at me for a moment and begins to speak.
"What do you want to know?"
I'm shocked, but my guard is still up. But as the conversation unfolds, I feel (and I'm a strong skeptic) that he is genuinely being honest. One reason I say this is that if he tried to sugar coat things, people would wash out anyway. One interesting part came about when the topic of money came up.
"Yeah, you know, the Marine Corps doesn't offer a signing bonus. Marine recruits are not prostitutes. If you came to have your college paid for, head down to the Army office; they have huge signing bonuses. The only reason that you should come talk to me is if what you want is to be a Marine."
We also talked all about what my path would be, but that is either boring or I will describe it later.
There's more but I am tired.
I start my workout regimen tomorrow morning.
This fucking car. I started this morning with two fully functioning windshield wipers. The passenger-side wiper makes a loud groaning noise and stopped mid-swipe, causing the driver's side wiper to get stuck and break. It still moves water on my side, but a metal protrusion scrapes all the way up and down. Oh well, another reason not to renew my 7 month overdue inspection sticker.
1300 Baxter St.
Not exactly what I expected, although I don't really know what else it would be. The building is just another business suite. A small time marketing firm is based just next door to the Navy recruitment office. I can't decide if this is ironic or not.
While the posted hours seem to suggest that the office would be open on a monday afternoon, the lights are off in the Naval recruitment center. Everyone gets lunchtime, I suppose. The doors are open and the lights are on in the Army office, so I sit down and wait. And I wait. And I wait. After 25 minutes I am still the only one in the Army office. It's starting to feel like fate. I knew coming here that I would end up in the Marine Corps office, but I wanted to give other places a chance.
The Air Force is open, and I walk in and sit down. A tallish man with a goofy mustache strides confidently out to greet me. The meeting that follows doesn't even warrant a lengthy description. He sits me down and masterfully delivers a prefabricated speech about how the Air Force will give me lots of money for college, and let me use thier resorts all over the world and it will be fun in the sun all day long. Knowing that he had just given me the chance of a lifetime that I simply couldn't say no to, he asked "So when can I sign you up to be sworn in?"
Well, I mean, I need some time to think.
"Sure, sure, although I don't really know what there is to think about..."
I feel like his offer should be enticing, but something just doesn't feel right. I guess I will go into the Marine office, but I am NOT signing anything.
I'm all set and prepared for the same speech that I got in the Air Force office. I flip through a History of the Marine Corps book for a moment before Staff Seargent 'K' comes out to greet me. I follow him into his office and sit across from him. He looks at me for a moment and begins to speak.
"What do you want to know?"
I'm shocked, but my guard is still up. But as the conversation unfolds, I feel (and I'm a strong skeptic) that he is genuinely being honest. One reason I say this is that if he tried to sugar coat things, people would wash out anyway. One interesting part came about when the topic of money came up.
"Yeah, you know, the Marine Corps doesn't offer a signing bonus. Marine recruits are not prostitutes. If you came to have your college paid for, head down to the Army office; they have huge signing bonuses. The only reason that you should come talk to me is if what you want is to be a Marine."
We also talked all about what my path would be, but that is either boring or I will describe it later.
There's more but I am tired.
I start my workout regimen tomorrow morning.