From the Lemon Stand

Things have been pretty serious around here lately and I need a laugh. I found this over at The Lemon Stand. It is funny and sure sheds some light on being thankful for what you have.

From the Lemon Stand:

Air Force or Army?
For some reason I was thinking about the following incident and thought I would share. (As an aside, my first duty station had mostly officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Canadians)

After I left home, I joined the Air Force and didn’t have to worry about such menial tasks as grocery shopping. I lived in the barracks and ate most of my meals at the chow hall. At the time, I was unaware of the fact that most chow halls were NOT like ours. I was at a command level base and the food was plentiful, had variety, and was cooked right just about every time.

It was finally brought home to me just how lucky I was when, after a couple of years, we had a group of Army soldiers visit our base enlisted chow hall for lunch. It looked like they had just come in from out in the field. They were muddy and looked tired and hungry.

I was, of course, in line behind all of these soldiers. As I am waiting, I hear, from the front of the line “What do you mean ‘What do I want?’ You mean we get a choice?”

Wow. I’m thinking that maybe they only serve one thing at their chow halls or maybe they eat mostly rations. Then I hear (in an even louder, more astounded voice) “What do you mean ‘How do I want it cooked?'”

Hmmm. Now I’m definately wondering what kind of meals they get. Then I hear “Look, just serve me what you have the most of. If I have a choice I would rather have something burnt than raw. Wait a minute… is that a steak? Is this the officer’s mess? Are we in the wrong chow hall?”

By this time, all of the soldiers were standing with rapt attention on this soldier at the head of the line. Looks of amazement on their faces. Now I’m thinking ‘Don’t they ever feed these guys?’

The poor cook behind the counter was sounding more and more frustrated. I heard him say “You are in the right chow hall. I do not burn my food nor serve it raw. The steaks are medium rare and yes you get a choice as long as you make it snappy!”

By now, the soldiers are whispering amongst themselves. The lead soldier having finally come out of his stupor and having ordered a mound of food, could be seen reverently holding his tray up to his nose as he made his way to a table. The rest of the soldiers were quickly rushing through their orders as if someone would discover there had been a mistake and order them out. All of their trays were packed with tons of food.

So I finally get my lunch and start heading to an empty table when I see a group of soldiers surrounding the self serve ice cream machine. I heard one of them say “Hey, you can get chocolate and vanilla soft serve here and there are fixins’ to make a sunday at the end of the salad bar!” read the rest here

It’s no secret in the Submarine force they are known for having pretty great food….and depending on the “name” of the boat you might some extra treats. When the husband was on the Nebraska they would get treated to some great beef shipped from the Big Red Sub Club of course. The one thing he hated though was guys who complained while coming through the line. After we both read One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick where he tells about Sr. officers and NCO’s not eating first….they always waited until their guys went through the line….that made an impression on the husband and he used to really get after the Chiefs who would complain and not let the young guys who had just come off watch head through the line first.

I’m certainly not comparing hardships….just wanting to give another perspective.