(He left early this morning.)
Short and sweet but, oh, so good. Every once in awhile you just have to hug and squeeze your kids — see their precious faces and say the words, “I love you.”
He had so much to tell us — some good, some bad. I can’t write about it all because a) it’s his life and b) it concerns the military. Anything I do reveal, I’ve checked with him first.
Suffice to say, although much of what goes on he “hates,” he still sounds enthusiastic. (Darn.) He’s a smart kid and knew what he was getting into — to a certain extent.
Some interesting tidbits:
His head is shorn of hair (no surprise there except for how he looks) and his feet are blistered. Dr. Scholl made a killing off us this weekend.
The above picture shows his room after an inspection was done. As a result of my son not having put his rucksack inside his locker, the inspecting officer trashed his room — flung stuff out of drawers, etc. (Trashed, it looks remarkably like his bedroom always did at home. Prior to the inspection it looked perfect — except for the rucksack out of place.)
His warrant officer uses some choice words and phrases when chewing out the platoon for failing to meet inspection standards. One particular expression stands out in my son’s mind. (Don’t read on if you don’t like salty language.) “You should be shot with a ball of your own sh*t.” Hmmm. Quite the imagination. The “F” word is also used liberally.
Within a group of 30 recruits (not sure of the exact number) 5 might excel (no crease in their uniforms, rooms impeccably neat, no infractions, etc.), 15 could be mediocre and 10 could be struggling. Those 5 who excel are not going to be recognized or praised for their excellence. Why? Because the rest of the group is not doing well. These numbers reveal a lack of teamwork (very important lesson learned in basic training). The “A” students are obviously not helping the others. For example — if you do well in the topography course but have a terrible time polishing your boots to standard, you find someone who needs help with topography and who in turn can help you with your boots. Tit for tat. And if you happen to do well in everything, you take the time to help the others. A reassignment of recruits within two groups took place because one group’s numbers did reveal failure in terms of teamwork.
While my son was an A student in university, he is definitely one of those who seeks assistance re: certain tasks and who offers his own expertise in others. (My guess as to what he gets help doing? Making his bed to military standards.)
His next visit? Who knows. This one was an unexpected surprise and delight.
And I did not cry when he left. Sad, yes. Tears, no.