And is there a lot of it.

Like a frog in a pot of water to boil, like the wrinkles on a long-term smokers face, or perhaps the occasional need for maintenance on a car; exposure over time can cause impactful change to a subject. Such is one of the effects of being in the military.

The hook of this catch twenty-two is that one needs to immerse into the way in order to make it in the Navy. Quite matter-of-fact, if you try to resist authority, culture, and processes, then you’ll walk out of basic training or officer commissioning school with separation papers/DOR. Even at times when rules seem so petty or business is done inefficiently, biting the bullet and taking the hit is all’s left to do. [Change rarely occurs in the middle of the chain of command].

So yes, you’ve gotta drink a little bit. The problem I’ve noticed is that sailors subconsciously adopted this mindset like a mental auto-compass. Over time when you keep absorbing these torpedoes, the mechanism to cope with the stress and mistreatment becomes default. If you ask me, I’d like to think I never lost sight of my principles,  though my pride and dignity took some strain quite often.

It always made me angry knowing that enlistedmen really sacrifice more than on paper, a way of subordination. However, its part of my underdog theory that this is also the ideal flightstrip to rise up from; part of our fall story. If you’re a brass sailor and everything is going for you, you don’t need a Mr. Miagi to help you rise up match after match. (By the way what the hell is up with the whole freeze frame ending, it worked for Rocky III but c’mon seriously).

Moral of the story: leave your bitch behind and write your own rank.