I’ve been a bit cynical lately. It is easy to get that way, given what we are doing. The Inspector General (IG)—the military agency responsible for conducting unit inspection--has nothing on Afghanistan. I’ve been through many Operational Readiness Inspections. This is where the IG throws war time scenarios at you to see if you can still get the job done. Some of the scenarios that I’ve been through during an inspection have actually happened here. A couple of times, I found myself thinking “hang on, the IG will call it off soon”, then realizing there isn’t an IG here, this is real shit. Some things have happened that even the IG couldn’t make up. During an inspection, you can tell the IG your thought process and what you would do, if it were real, and you would be evaluated on your thought process. Here, something happens and you have to tell your boss what course of action you propose, so he can chew it up, spit it out, and then tell you to find two more courses of action so that he can choose one…by morning. Then he chooses the original one you proposed. Then, you actually have to do it.
We use the phrase improvise, adapt and overcome. We mean to solve these problems, but also as a strategy for just how much to tell the boss so that he doesn’t get too involved in your work because he is just going to screw it up. Or cause more work. “What is the Colonel going to do to shit in my wheaties today?” is one of my favorite sayings. “A person has only so much ‘give a shit’ in him”, is another.
This was my frame of mind for a few days. I guess you could say I was in a funk. Then I got a card from Sadie. She told me that she liked that I always look for the good in people, and that I always find it. She also told me that she has never once seen me have a bad or grouchy day, and that she has never heard me say anything negative or discouraging. What a kindly kick in the butt. This reminded me of how I ought to be. So, I’m working on it.
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