elderwanda wrote:
Tantybi wrote:
I usually don't refer to myself in 3rd person except lately I now call myself the mom or the mommy to my kids (ages 1 and 2).
Once years ago before I had kids I was in basic training for the Air Force, and in the dining facility (chow hall), they had what they called the "snake pit" where a bunch of TI's (drill sgts) sit, eat and randomly pull "trainees" aside to haze a bit (but it's not hazing because that's illegal). So, once I got called a couple weeks before graduation, and I didn't have a piece of paper I was supposed to have on me at all times. And in the midst of being nervous about what happens if you don't have that piece of paper and in fear that these guys were going to seriously make it into a big deal (as they did verbally at that time, but not like got me trouble), I answered one of their questions in 3rd person. Then this one asked if there were two of me and made a big deal about it. Every time he saw me after that, he kept asking me how the two of us were doing. So then graduation comes around and my mom comes in town to watch it, and I get my first free hours away from it all to go wherever I wanted to go. So my mom and I went to a restaurant along the riverwalk, and I hadn't had real food with more than 2 minutes to eat for a very long time, so I ordered and ate a lot. The last time through the dining facility, I ran into that one TI again and he asked what I did and where I went with my mom. I told him. Then he asked if I ordered extra food for my other self, and I told him actually, I kinda did since I had 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts.
Ha ha! I was in AF basic training in 1985, and I vividly remember the "snake pit"! I was never actually called forward, but I lived in fear of it. As you will remember, you have to have your hat ON when you are outside, and OFF when you are inside. Whenever I was finished eating, and was in the act of walking out the door and putting my hat on, this one TI would rush over and get into the doorway with me. If my hat was on my head but I was still inside, he'd give me he**. If my hat was off, and I was outside, same thing. If I was stood in the doorway struggling nervously with my hat, he'd glare into my eyes and say all kinds of things to make me even more nervous. However--I actually kind of remember all that with a bit of fondness. He was doing his job, and none of that was personal. Also, stressful as it was, basic training was one of the only times in my life when I actually knew what I was supposed to be doing every minute of the day. (Still got in trouble for not folding my duffel bag fast enough and perfectly enough.)
That's funny. I remember some officer got on my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) for the hat thing in the dining facility at our first duty station. My husband just put it on like 4 feet early, and he flipped. In basic, I got a hard time for my hair getting messed up because of the hat. They'd ask me if I let a chicken dance on my head and told me I was out of uniform. I eventually found the best thing for the hair for females under that hat was ProStyle gel (in the ethnic hair section at Walmart). I personally liked basic training. It was relaxing to have someone do all the thinking for you. I didn't even have to worry about when to pee because they told me. I slept better there too. I kinda wish I could sleep on that bunk again with all the military issued bedding just for old times sake. I wonder if I could find those blankets at an army surplus store. Anyway, I couldn't fold my t-shirt. They issued us the really cheap ones that kept stretching in some parts and shrinking in others, so it wasn't easy to work with. My TI had me tweezing for hours and i still had to have other people do it for me when it came time for inspections. My husbands shirts he got were decent. I would be able to fold those easy. His TI made them buy and use Sofee shirts too, but the crap he got before buying those was better than what I got.
Oh, and my TI, he didn't bother me at all. He got in my face once, and I finally drew the courage to make eye contact which it was then that I realized he was just as afraid as I was. Then that scared him because of course when I noticed, the fear left my eyes quickly and then I just had a feel sorry for him type of look. Then he kept up in my face, so then I turned it into a flirty thing without being too obvious (what else am I going to do when a man's face is right in mine and our lips are like inches apart). Being that he was married and new at that job, he avoided me from that point on. Though, I do suspect he wondered how far I would have gone with that.