Be All That You Can Be

I stumbled into the hotel room last night just in time to see one of those high-speed "Go Army" commercials. It reaked of equal opportunity and affirmative action-- an inner city kid that got a great new engineering job with free training and great benefits. He said it was time he became a man. Whatever. The training is technically free, but they take plenty out of your paycheck for other things. And the benefits aren't all that great either. I'm still pulling pieces of my wisdom teeth out of the gaping holes left in my mouth some two months ago. And when I die, they're gonna tax the hell out of the $250k before paying out. Don't get me wrong-- I love my great new job... it's just that I thought scoring a 98 on the ASVAB (and having a GT score of 145) would get me a little more than a position as a gas-pumper/fuel-transporter. I can breathe fumes all day long and still compete mentally with my peers. Oh yeah--when you join the Army, you're not a man-- you're a private. And nobody likes a dirty nasty private.

I've come to realize that a big part of being a soldier is making the most out of the shit we are given. Everybody here's got something to bitch about, and that's what makes my world go 'round. Forget what the commercials say. We don't do it for the health benefits, the education opportunities, or even the money. That's just a way to trick people into enlisting. Everybody has a different reason for sticking around, and mine is walking down civilian streets and looking at all the weak little bodies that have no idea how hard we all work to keep them free. That's the kind of cheesy shit they need to put on TV.

I'm gonna go see a movie now--probably "Wedding Crashers." It's like $3 on post, which ain't bad for being surrounded by a bunch of dirty stinkin' privates for a couple hours. The best part about going to the movies on post is that the privates know how to behave in public places, and if they decide to act up, all I have to do is talk to their Drill Sergeant. Hehehe... I love this shit.