Unfortunately I'm a horrible planner. Pending a reenlistment, in less than 257 days I will be ending the active duty component of my enlistment in the US Navy. I started counting down when I hit 1200 days. Unfortunately I didn't really start to think about what to do when the day finally arrived until about 100 days ago. I am not worried about food in my belly or a roof over my head. I am worried about finding work, and putting money in my pocket. Life isn't about your paycheck you may say. You are correct, however, honest life is about settling your debts. You know and I don't even think that I would mind flipping burgers so much. Because I know that when my workshift ended I would be off the hook. I wouldn't have to worry about standing watch over the fryers or manning the counter from midnight to 8am even though nobody is around. I might even enjoy being wrong about something, as long as I am wrong on principle, not because I don't have enough chevrons on my sleeve/shirt collar. It's been a fun ride, and I don't begrudge anybody who decides to stick with it. I just don't think this life is for me. It shreds me up whenever I have to drive back to base.
I'm tired of:
- Coming home to visit
- Room inspections
- Uniform inspections
- Being wrong due to rank
- Uneven praise for a well done job
- Country club politics
- The world passing me by
- Every time I think about reenlisting something stupid happens to remind me why I started counting down at day 1200.
- Being punished for things idiots did in years past
I will miss:
- The level of camaraderie
- The feeling I get when I put on my dress uniform
- Stability
- Financial certainty
- Other things that are hard to scribe
Meh, I kinda wanted to add some other stuff maybe....but I started this like 2 hours ago so I'm just gonna post it already.
1 comment:
Having never served and probably never will, I do want to offer that the real world can be just as dull as you described and that even when you work hard, you get little to no praise. Mostly you don't get praise. The military is a harsh life but for those that stick with it... in my opinion, they come out on top moreso then the rest of us, they may not be as happy or as successful or whatever thing you want to put here, but they have something that no one else can ever say: a brotherhood, and one that lasts more then 4 years and means more then a H.S. football team. Once again, I have no service experience, but I hope that whatever you do, that your happy doing it.
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