Had a bad day?

Under the best circumstances, I can function...(and have, on occasion)...for forty eight hours straight on just a few hours sleep. (Hey...I've got two kids.) Granted, it is not an ideal situation, but if circumstances dictate, I find myself able to function. That's great at home, when I have a project I want to work on, (like writing one of my stories or an online class, etc.) and I don't want to sacrifice family time. I can stay up and work on it for a few hours after the wife and kids go to bed, and then still function just fine the next day.

Now...let's take this same guy and send him halfway around the world. The jetlag itself is difficult to deal with. (I was so off on my schedule that I didn't know how tired I was until two days later, when the tired found me sitting in my room. It walked in and said, "Oh...there you are. Miss me?"...and then I passed out.) Add the stress of living in a combat zone, plus the weirdness of working from midnight to noon...sprinkle in a little disorientation, and add about a cup and a half of homesick, and what do you get? A miserable guy to be around...if you're not careful.

Fortunately...we are talking about me. I have this irritating habit of trying to make the best of whatever situation in which I find myslef. This has been a challenge in this particular case. I've told you about the heat...not fun. It is pretty high stress...combat zone...again, not fun. And then there's the smell. It's not an "in your face, obvious, disgusting 'I have to leave now or gag,' nasty," kind of smell. It's more subtle than that. It's like feet...that have been in leather shoes all day, and then someone takes those shoes off. But, they are on the other side of the room. You can tell that there is something in the air, but you aren't sure what it is. It gradually gets worse...then the owner of the feet steps out for a moment. That's better, you think...but then you realize that they left their shoes... and the whole process starts over again. (But I digress...)

I know what you are thinking. "But you said you find the good in everything, and all you seem to be doing is complaining." Well...yeah, I'm complaining. That's the good thing. Stop scratching your head, and listen. The good thing in the situation is the observations that I'm making. I'm seeing a whole new world over here, and I'm realizing that we have it pretty damn good for all the complaining that we do.

Americans are spoiled. Yeah. I said it. I'm also looking in the mirror as I say it. Listen, no matter what you think your problems are...

SHUT UP.....YOU HAVE IT PRETTY DAMN GOOD!!!!!!!!

I went on a rant the other day about coffee. Now...any one who knows me knows that I am beyond addicted to coffee. (One particularly popular franchise in the states literally claimed a fifth of my paycheck one time...My wife saw the bank statements...now I drink Maxwell House...that I make myself...at home.) The reason for this rant was the lack of a decent cup of coffee here. I was cranky. The coffee was bad...(this is the understatement of the year. This stuff tastes like it is half road tar, strained through one of my boot socks at the end of the day.)...and my spoiled little self thought it was the end of the world.

Time to gain some perspective. When I'm at home, I can go get my coffee (I mean make myself a pot, Honey...really...) whenever I want. Here I can't do that...and I complain...because it's inconvenient and I'm spoiled. The people of this country live without electricity twenty hours a day. For two hours at a time, they get to have power in their homes...then it's off for four. And a cup of coffee is putting me in a bad mood?

I told you last time that I would expand on the living situation here...namely, my trailer. I like to call it my cell. Four gray walls. A bed. A wall locker. That's about it. I have a TV. We get about twenty channels, and that's awesome...if you like watching re-runs of 'The Golden Girls' or Animal planet's monkey documentary all day. I do have internet...it's so slow, that by the time this blog actually gets posted...I will have been home on my R&R. The air conditioner works hard to keep the room at a chilly eighty six degrees...at night....after the sun has gone to the other side of the world.

Well, just when I'm starting to get into that 'rant groove'...here comes PERSPECTIVE again. There are soldiers in other places...(forward operating bases...we call them FOBs...) who are living in tents. They eat prepackaged rations (the army calls those MRE's...Meals Ready to Eat) twice a day. They get up, put on their uniforms and all their gear, get in armored military vehicles, and go out into the streets and deserts and confront danger every day. THEY are MY heroes. And I complain that my internet is too slow?

Then I start thinking about my family. It has been almost twenty four hours since I have spoken to them...and it has been twenty six days since I've seen them. I think it's horrible that I don't get to talk more often...and that it will be a long time until I see them again...but I will see them again.

Here comes that pesky Perspective again. Those guys on the FOBs get to use the phone maybe once a week...if the lines are up and working. And every time they get in that vehicle and go to work...I don't have to say it...you've seen the news. And what about the People here in Iraq...the local population? The news reported the other day about a car bomb that exploded in a market and killed several civilians. That is a daily reality for the Iraqi people. That is an hourly reality for many of them.

I hate brining down my own 'light hearted' look at a year in Baghdad...but I just wanted you to think. The next time you have an argument with a loved one, realize this...at least you have the opportunity to have that argument. The next time you get mad, because you are running late...or are having a bad day and need that cup of coffee that you didn't get...there's a Soldier in Iraq that hasn't had a hot meal in a couple of days. The next time the cable goes out, the air conditioner is on the blink, or the power goes out...take a deep breath and relax.

The next time you get up and say "Man, I don't want to go to work...I hate this job...can't wait till I get off..." think about what the guy manning the machine gun on top of the Humvee is thinking about his job.

When you think you've got it bad...take a second to think...and just know that someone...somewhere...probably has it a little worse.

It's all just a matter of perspective.

SSG,
Out