From the halls of Montezuma

Well, it's a hotel room in Quantico actually, but my point is that the USMC Educators' workshop that I've been writing about officially started yesterday. Other than observations about flying from a regional airport the size of our house, which I will share, I promise, I don't have a whole lot to say about the Marine Corps yet. Just one thing: They are Very Serious. Very. Serious. Oh sure, they laugh and smile, but all in a Very Serious manner.

Now if you know me at all, you know that I don't take anything very seriously. Well, besides my marriage vows. Seriously though, I don't take myself, my career, my anything that, well, seriously. I mean, my degrees are all dusty, rolled up in a chest at the foot of our bed, sports trophies are hidden away in my closet, and the one framed picture of husband-dear and I in our bedroom is one where we both make a funny face. So being among people who take everything, including themselves Very Seriously has been a challenge.

Take yesterday's travel for instance. As you may remember, the USMC had me booked on a regional commuter to the Atlanta airport. Not the most economical means of getting me to the ATL, but you know, at least it was only twenty minutes from my house, as opposed to several hours. After waiting at the airport for an hour, however, the check-in person, who also doubled as the luggage loading crew, flight line crew, customer service rep, and reservations agent came up to me and the one other passenger (as the airport didn't have a PA system) and told us that the flight would be delayed for at least an hour. No reasons were given, so when I called my POC (point of contact - Marines love acronyms as much as the Air Force does), and he asked me if I knew why the plane was delayed, I said, "I honestly don't know, but we're in the south, so it could very well be that the pilot's grits aren't fully cooked yet."
Although I realize that was perhaps not quite Comedy Central material, it really didn't deserve the crickets it got. I mean, people, at this point I already knew I was going to miss my connecting flight to DC, I had also been told that most other flights were fully booked, so I thought a little humor might help.
It didn't.

When I finally got to DC, I was about three hours behind schedule, and subsequently missed the first half of the briefing. As we (my USMC driver/PA officer) and I were making our way down the beltway I said something sarcastic like, "Well, at least we'll set a great standard for the rest of the week", which also did not go over well.

So, yes, serious indeed. Which, I suppose, is helpful when you're parachuted into enemy territory or engaging in hand to hand combat, and whatever other scary things these marines do. It does, however, make daily life far less amusing.

In short, I think I better tone down my sarcasm this week.
Wish me luck!