Who was he?

Yesterday for lunch I decided to go and get my haircut.  On the way back to work I stopped by a convenient store to get something to drink.  As I walked out of the store towards my car there was an older man maybe in his 60's facing the same direction I was travelling in.  At this point he has not seen the front of my uniform.. Im halfway between him and my car and the conversation goes like this.

Old Man: How are you doing today staff sergeant (at this point he has only seen the back of me not the front of my uniform)

Me: Im fine thank you

Old Man: Can you spare 75 cents

Me: I don’t think I do (as I put my hands in my pocket to check, I realize that I have 75 cents exactly) wait sir I do have 75 cents.

Old Man:  Thank you staff sergeant...Thats a nice car you have there..is it a Toyota?

Me: No sir it’s a lexus

Old Man: It’s the same thing..You must really like cars staff sergeant

Me: I do (then the conversation goes quiet as we are making eye contact)

Old Man: You will be fine staff sergeant.....

Me: .......(Making eye contact)

Old Man:  You will be ok...

Me: Have a good Day Sir

As I got in the car and headed back to work, my emotions started and my eyes watered.  I couldn’t tell you why but it was what he said at the end that really did something to me.  It felt as if I knew him..not physically but emotionally.  His clothes were old but they were clean.  His hair and beard were thick but trimmed.  I'm not sure what it all meant.

Stay Frosty out there

Is that a Woman or a 12 year old boy?

Somehow, we have told ourselves that being thin is beautiful.  I'm a firm believer in being comfortable with the body that the supreme being gave to you.  People can still be curvy and be healthy.  Since when did being skinny become the new thing?  What ever happen to the Marilyn Monroe days when curvy was beautiful.  If you are a naturally thin woman I totally understand that.  However if you spend most of your time trying to turn your body into to something that its not, there are obviously some different issues going on.  Do you know that your body isn’t made to continuously go up and down and weight? It destroys your metabolism.  Now, I know some people may say that’s easy for me to say because im skinny.  That’s partly true but I've been the same size for 12 years and my weight has always fluctuated by about 5 pounds.  I personally don’t know what it's like to struggle with weight but know people that do.  The only thing that matters is that youre  healthy.  You ever been out eating with friends and have that one person that says, " oh no I can't eat that, I would have to go work out for 3 days to burn it off". You my friend have a mental problem and you’re a fucking idiot.  The fact that you thought so far into eating a damn cookie is disturbing.  As I said before if you are a naturally thin person I get it,  but if you’re the person dying to get there that’s a problem.  What's so attractive about a woman that has the body of a 12 year old boy?  I just don’t get it.  Why in the hell would you spend your whole entire life trying to get and maintain a certain weight?  Let me clue you in on something,  if you wernt  born that size and or it’s a struggle to get there...It's not meant to fucking happen.  Life has many struggles in it,  trying to be thin shouldn’t be one of them.  I remember when I was at school a few years ago and a guy took out a picture of his wife and showed it to us. "She's smoking hot isn’t she", he said.  I'm saying to myself damn where the ass and titties at?  What do grab during doggystyle, her fucking ankles?  There is only one person authorized in this bedroom to have a dick and a six pack and that’s me.  As a man when you go to a restaurant, you order a pretty nice size steak because you know you can eat it.  You don’t want steak sauce, you want a natural flavored steak.  You don’t order a fucking 3 ounce steak it aint enough.  You order a nice size or big steak cause you know you have the KNIFE to cut the maaafucka..U understand what im saying.  Some men want small steaks cause dont need a big knife to eat it lol and you can pick up with your hand and eat it.  A real man got the tools to handle any cut of steak ya dig!.  If you have that woman in your life that’s average size and everyday she says shit like, "Im getting fat".  You need to DX (army term for exchanging items) that bitch like a pair of jungle boots with a whole that cant be taped up.  That shit will only get worse.  The bottom line is this,  be healthy but also happy with the way the supreme being made you.

Thank you for your service

A few days ago, I was making my weekly trip to Wegmans Grocery Store.  I don’t know if you guys know this already but Wegmans is the greatest place on earth.  Ensure that you never go there on a empty stomach because it will defiantly cost you financially. As I was leaving the store walking back to my car a lady said to me, " Thank you for your service young man".  I responded with, " I appreciate that ma'am".  You know what's interesting it, no matter how many times I here that it always brightens my day and gives me a sense of pride.  The truth of the matter is,  A lot of people truly don’t know the sacrifices that we as Soldiers and our families make.  Although most Soldiers currently serve here stateside, there is still the possibility of them leaving their families and fighting overseas.  But its words like what the woman said to me a few days ago that makes that process a little easier.  Just because the area you live may be flooded with Soldiers in uniform I guarantee that would mean a lot to them if you thanked them for their service.  Can you imagine the feeling of being a Soldier and looking your spouse and kids in the eye knowing that may be the last time you ever see them again?  That my friend is no easy thing to do.  I remember back in 2004 when I was on my way back home for mid month R&R.  We stopped in Atlanta for a layover.  As we were going up the escalator, A older man in a suit turned to me and gave me a hundred dollar bill.  "First round of drinks for you and your brothers is on me, I'm a retired Colonel", he said.  We went to the bar in the Airport and got shit faced.  As we are in the restaurant drinking them out of a house and home, people were constantly coming up to us and thanking us for our service.  Every time we would finish one drink the waitress would come over and say, "the table over there thanks you for your service and would like to buy you guys a round of drinks".  Two minutes later, " The gentleman at the bar wants to pay for all of your meals" the waitress said. "Shit", I replied " Somebody already paid for our food". "Well he wants to buy you guys shots" the waitress said.   When we finally got up from the table to go and catch out flight I promise you there were at least 20 drinks still sitting on the stand next to our table that we couldn’t even get to.  I barely made my flight back to DC I was so shit faced.  What happen to those days?  People walk right pass a Soldier in uniform as if we are wearing jeans and a T-shirt. I understand if you live or work in a place where you see Soldiers every day, you would lose your voice thanking everyone.  What I say to you is this,  If you are out and about and you see a service member simply say, "Thank you for your service".  If you are out at a bar and see a Soldier in uniform, buy them a drink.  It might not mean a lot to you, but it means the world to that Soldier.

Stay Thirsty my Friends

Bullying

I've been meaning to write about this topic because it's something that’s near and dear to my heart.  Yesterday as I was sitting in the living room after dinner, my son was in the bathroom getting ready to take a shower.  He was standing in front of the mirror looking at his stomach.  My wife said to him, " What are you doing?"  He replied back with, " I'm Fat". I asked him," Who told you that you were fat?"  He said the 5th graders call him fat.  For any of you who have ever seen my son, he's about my size just 22 years younger.  Growing up I was never bullied until I got to high school.  I remember this one big black dirty dusty motherfucker that would take my lunch money and I was scared shitless of him.  There use to be a hallway by the auditorium that didn’t have a lot of traffic.  One day I was walking pass it and I saw him walking towards me.  He asked me if I had any money and I said no.  He proceeded to push me into a corner, went into my pockets and took my lunch money.  What did I do to deserve for that to happen to me.  Another time in that same hallway I thought I made it to the other side only for me to open the door and have him standing right there.  This time he wasn’t as nice about it.  He asked me for my lunch money and my bus tokens.  I reached in my pocket and gave everything I had to him. For no reason he started choking and told me to give him more money.  He scared me so bad I pissed myself.  I can kinda laugh about it now but it wasn’t funny to me then.  Bullying is something that I take personal because nobody deserves to go through anything like that.  Yea I turned out pretty well despite those things but a lot of kids don’t.  Most parents know of their kids are bullies or not.  If you’re the parent that gets called by school about your child constantly teasing and putting his hands on kids....Suck start the nearest firearm or rifle and do us all a favor.  Your kids get out of control because you allow them to.  You let them run over you, disrespect you and do whatever the hell they want.  Your motto normally is," I don’t know what else to do I think he has A.D.D. or some sort of mental and emotional problem.  I have a newsflash for you,  your child needs his or her shit split in half.  It's just like owning a dog, "YOU MUST ESTABLISH WHO THE ALPHA IS AND WHO'S HOUSE IT BELONGS TO".  I'm not saying that I beat my kids, what I am saying is they know who the Commander and 1SG are.  If you have ever told your child to do something and they mouthed off to you, that my friend is an epic fail.  You are a parent and nothing that you say is negotiable.  Its your way or the highway.  Just remember these types of kids will one day become adults and potentially a problem in society.  I am society, and I don’t want to be the one to teach your kid a lesson.  One day I was in wegmans shopping for a new family lol..and I saw a little but shove what appeared to be his My son is taught that bullying and teasing kids is not tolerating but if someone hits him to hit them twice as hard back.  I understand that sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me, but sometimes they do.  You have kids that are terrified of going to school out of fear of bullies.  Just go to youtube and type in bullying, you will be surprised at some of the shit you see.  No child deserves to be treated that way period.  School is suppose to be a place of learning and growth, not a place of torture and traumatic experiences. 

Stay Thirsty my Friends