Much clean up in barracks
before lunch. Need to do it
faster. DIs won't be as
kind. Back to PX [post exchange--a base store] today.
At least 1 fight is looming for the weekend in my estimate.
One PFC [private first class] is starting to get full of his
rank. I thought he'd be OK but
now I'm not sure. He could make
enemies. Keeps his nose lean, though.
Had to see two movies after
dinner. "Moving" & "Vice Versa."
Movies geared to 18-19 year olds.
("Satisfaction" is coming) Sergeant
asked who didn't want to go
to second movie. I was the only
one to raise my hand. I knew
immediately that I was going.
Slept fairly well. No fire guard.
Some busy work but basically the Army just wanted to keep us out of trouble for the weekend. Dumping us in a theater for the evening was one way to do that. And it was on our dime. It isn't like the Army even paid for the movie and snacks (yet still they got to--never mind).
One way of getting in trouble was just goofing around to draw attention from base personnel from our noise. Another was to keep their barracks untidy. Another was to actually fight with each other. Another was to think your rank meant you were a soldier with the moral authority to order other civilians dressed in green around. Technically, that PFC had the rank--as did I. I was probably senior since I'd been a PFC since enlistment (time in grade breaks ties). But the wisdom to try to use that rank is another thing.
Yet I slept well. Fire guard was the night patrol in the barracks to make sure the place didn't burn down, and otherwise guard the troops while they slept. Forgive me if I wonder why that apparently was not standard procedure in Afghanistan until recently.
The movies were awful. They should show those at Guantanamo Bay to the jihadis we still hold. Oh, they'll talk all right. They'll talk. If memory serves me, I went to see "Satisfaction" after basic training with my fiance. But perhaps I'll mention the movie again in the next couple months.
In retrospect, I should have embraced the time left alone and chance to drink pop, eat candy and popcorn, and otherwise be entertained--no matter how lame the entertainment. Unknown to us at that moment, the rest of our basic training company was already in place undergoing the horrors of basic training. By the time we got there, we'd be in awe of those who had already survived several days of basic training. The fear on their faces would be scarier than the introduction to our drill sergeants. But that was a couple days away.
Still, it is said that being in the Army is a lot of boring standing or sitting around punctuated by moments of sheer horror (or, in a peaceful setting, "hurry up and wait"). This was definitely the boring part as we waited for the still-unknown horror of basic training.
Oh, and obviously I know I'm the only one who could have raised my hand when we were all asked if we wanted to stay for the second movie or go. Forgive me. My brain was rotted from "Moving" at that point.
