I Almost Joined

We landed at the San Diego airport in the middle of the night and went to the designated area reserved for Marine recruits and waited. I was part of a group of about 25 other recruits, still in our civilian attire and we still had our hair.

Eventually a Marine Staff Sergeant, built like he was chiseled as Greek statue, came from out of the dark, accompanied by a slim corporal, walked decidedly over to a waiting podium, and firmly placed paperwork on it.

The corporal said to us, "Form two single file lines in front of the staff sergeant's podium."

We all then groped our way toward the podium, not knowing what was coming next. The square jawed staff Sergeant looked up and said with authority, "When you hear your name you will answer 'here', and from now on, your first and last words will be 'sir'."

He looked at his list and began calling role, "Anderson". We all heard the recruit respond with a low and careless "here", and at that, the staff Sergeant looked up in shock and yelled, "You don't listen well do you! Did I not just say the first and last word out of that filthy suck of yours will be 'sir'!" 

My eyes grew wide.

He continued, "Get the shit out of your ears and listen up! ANDERSON!" This time the recruit answered, with the standard "Sir, here, sir!"

I began some alarming self-talk, saying to myself, "Oh, my god, here I am in the middle of a strange airport in the middle of the night, and this Marine is yelling and cussing at this guy! What have I done? Is it too late to change my mind? Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

Needless to say, it was too late, and it was the first encounter of the adventure of a lifetime. I was to go on to see, and experience amazing things over the next several years. I established bonds with other Marines that still exist today, after all these years. Nothing I do, nothing I say, nothing I think, isn’t somehow tainted with Marine green.

The experience was unique and the only ones who can relate to it are actually not veterans in general, nor even, most of the time, other Marines, but rather the very Marines who actually went through it all alongside me. 

I am rather guarded on the subject because many people often say things like, "I almost joined the Marines" or "My uncle was in the Marines so it's like I was a Marine too." And then there is always the ones who think they understand the life of Marines because, "I read how tough it is, so I understand"

No, they don't understand, and there is no way they could, no matter how many stories they hear from relatives, or videos they watch, or books they read. It's like me trying to understand what it's like to go through childbirth; I can listen to my wife, and other women can tell me what it's like, and I can read about it, or hear about it, but I never gone through it. I can listen politely but understanding what it's like is not within my capabilities.

We had a phrase when I was in, "If you ain't been there, shut the fuck up". This was a simple and frank way of saying if someone hasn't done what they're talking about, then they don't know what they're talking about.  

I can't count the number of times over the years the people who have never been in, ceaselessly blather on to me about what they think they know. Not only do I find them a total bore but it's also highly offensive to me. Who are they to tell me what it's like?

If you're in business for yourself, how often have you heard someone tell you how to run your business, who themselves aren't in business and have never been in business?

"If I was in business", I've heard them say, "I'd run it this way, or that way." When I've heard this phrase over all the years in which I've worked for myself, I would have liked to have answered, "If you ain't been there...." as they proceed to their warehouse job or cubicle, underpaid, underwhelmed, and complaining.

Don't most of us self-employed, instead, just smile politely and say little in response?