Journal Entry: "The Mini-Mall"

Today we got our first on-post pass. We’ve had what are called mini-mall passes, which allow us to walk a little ways down to (you guessed it) a mini-mall where we can purchase toiletries and other necessities. Today we were given the run of the post…with one minor exception: Some of us had left our lockers accidentally unsecured earlier in the week – a most heinous crime, and therefore had our passes revoked. Instead of spending the day on post eating decent food and having soft drinks and shopping and generally just decompressing, we got to stay behind and strip the wax off the floors. All day. And yes, I was one of them. I had apparently left my locker unsecured earlier this week. I can’t explain how it happened and its really not a big deal in the real world, but here its treated as if you whipped out and took a piss on the drill sergeant’s boots. I had to wear a duffle bag on my back all week that contained the entire contents of my wall locker and wake up ever hour on the hour to sign a piece of paper saying I had my locker secure – every night. So when Saturday rolled around and we smelled a pass in the air, I figured I had served my sentence and would be allowed to go. Wrong. Oh well, it really didn’t bother me that much and when everyone else came back from pass, we had that floor looking better than it ever had before. There was a strange satisfaction in that I can’t quite explain. I was rather proud of myself that I took it without once having felt sorry for myself and I accomplished the rather distasteful tasks given to us with no contempt or irritation. I’ve come a long way in that respect. It will serve me well when things don’t go my way in the field.