Day 14 - Debates and Life

Wow, day 14, time is kind of moving by, albeit slowly. The temperature has dropped and we are having a cold spell for a few days. No complaints here as it's a nice break from all the heat we have seen the past few months. Of course these cooler temperatures won't be here for long since the temperature will be back in the 90's in a few days.

There was lot of music today, and the one song that really stuck out was Aerosmith's "Dream On". This little song was the talk amongst a group of us for quite some time. There was a big debate on if Steven Tyler was the artist singing it or not. Back in the times before the internet and iPhones this debate would have ragged on for a long long time. There were four of us looking for definitive information on who was on vocals. One member of the group was extremely adamant that it was NOT Steve Tyler and he kept this up even after seeing video proof.

Yes, I know about having big debates like this seems kind of stupid and petty, but it's a part of military life. You are in such close proximity to the same group of people for months on end with little separation. Everyone goes through the stresses that military life imposes and it's just a way to pass the time.

Yeah, I know that it still doesn't make that much sense if you've never been "in" but think of it this way....

Imagine that you are forced to spend every single day at work for the next ____ days/months/years. Now imagine that you and all your friends all sleep in a building next to work.

Now imagine that you are in this building by yourself and without your family. Now imagine that your work isn't actually even close to where you home is. Now imagine that the only food that you eat is prepared in the cafeteria at work. Now imagine that work imposed a bunch of crazy rules like everyone wears the same polo shirt, same khakis, same shoes, same sock, and same t-shirts.

Now imagine that work took their employee manual and expanded it to something like a thousand 100-300 page books. Now imagine that your workday consists of 7 days a week with days going from 5 or 6 am until 9-10pm. Now imagine that you can't drink or leave the work property without permission of the CEO.

All of this may seem kind of hokey, but this is the sacrifice that everyone in the military makes. It may seem incredibly absurd but it produces a cohesive group that will do anything for each other.