Since we first moved to Omaha and started this military life, I have always wanted to make note of something so far from normalcy in the civilian world that happens here everyday on the base. For my friends who are military and happen to read this blog, please feel free to share your first or memorable experience as well. I was raised on a farm and my life was so far removed from this world of rituals and abbreviated EVERYTHING, where your doctor shows up in camouflage and expects you to not think twice about his or her attire. There are many positives about this life that I don't want to forget and this is one memory I will smile over for the rest of my life.
Everyday, sometime around 4pm, loud horns can be heard from any point on base. If you are outside when you hear this, all activity must stop. I'm not sure what those inside buildings must do but I do know that I've never had to stop grocery shopping when they've gone off. If you are driving in your car, you must pull over. If you are active duty you must actually get out of your car and salute in the American flag as the National Anthem is then played throughout the base. This happens during rush hour on base when everyone leaves around 4:30pm so can you imagine all these cars pulled to the side of the road, out of respect for the anthem, everyday?
Now imagine what it would be like if you were an officer in your car and experiencing this ritual for your first time...only no one told you what it was about or what you were suppose to do. Yeah, that was the case for poor Brent. If I remember right, he just kind of played it cool and followed along with everyone around him. Sadly, there have been many other "here's something else that we do that is in no way considered normal that somehow you were just suppose to know" moments. Live and learn, right?
My first time hearing those horns blast was while we were swimming in the base pool. By this point Brent had already had his lesson on car etiquette in this situation but what do you do when you are swimming in the deep end of the pool? Were we suppose to get out? Could we quietly just keep swimming? Being the street smart people we are, we stole glances at the seven year olds swimming next to us and gathered from them that the people in the pool were suppose to turn to the direction of the flag seize all movement or quietly tread if you couldn't touch the bottom of the pool. The mother's who had been soaking some rays all put their books down, stood with hands over their hearts and showed their respect along with the rest of us.
Okay, I totally get the patriotism and respect that is shown in all of this and it there is a sense of pride every time when we take that moment out of normalcy to honor what this country and not to mention, the whole point of being in the military is about. But I'm sorry...it's a terrible, embarrassing thing for me to do...I just can't help but get the giggles every time. I think it's because I always think of Pavlov's dogs and that this could be mistaken for some mighty impressive conditioning.
Case and point: On my Mom's last visit here we were walking into the commissary (grocery store) when the horns started. I immediately grabbed my Mom's arms and told her to stop. She had no clue what was happening and thought we must be in some kind of danger but thankfully, before she tried to take cover or make some other defensive maneuver, she saw that everyone around her had stopped as well and were not in the least bit concerned. I looked around and tried imagine what this scene looked like to her as people who were on their way to their cars with the carry out person toting their groceries behind them, stopped dead in their tracks--even if it was in the middle of the street--and stood with somber faces and hands properly placed on their chest. What was she thinking when she saw the lady a few feet away standing by her open trunk with groceries only half loaded? At first she had the proper response of "how neat" and "there is dignity and honor in doing this." But then...
...then came the giggles.
2 comments:
I always really enjoyed these moments too. It just gives you a moment out of every day to reflect upon the sacrafices that our soldiers (including our husbands) make for their country. This usually brings tears to my eyes. I'm kind of sad that Nathan wont' remember these moments, but I can try to tell him when he gets older.
Mike was stationed at the Pentagon for his first assignemnt as a little 2nd Lieutenant. Washington DC has the highest number of Generals stationed there than any other place in the world. He needed some uniform items so we went to the uniform store together on Bolling AFB in the heart of the city. We went to the large assortment of flight caps and I told him I liked the ones with the silver piping the best. They had the largest selection of the style I liked so he was able to find one for his peanut head easily. We went up the cash register and the nice older lady ringing up our purchase quietly said that the flight caps he picked out were designated for Generals only due to the wide silver piping on them. He needed to pick out a regular flight cap that just had a silver and black braided type of piping. We were horrified given that Mike's butter bars (his 2nd LT rank he had on his shoulder) were obviously brand new and he looked all of 21 years old. Unfortunately there was a crusty, battle worn Chief Master Sergeant behind us in line that just could NOT contain his case of the giggles. He was trying so hard but he was laughing his butt off. As Mike did the walk of shame and returned with his boring flight cap the Sergeant looked at Mike and quietly said "morning sir" then started giggling hysterically again.
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