The Purpose of Pain

We did something good marching back from class today. Our section leader praised us for it.

This was weird.

Waiting to get back into the barracks (between id checks and baggage checks, it can actually take longer to get all of us back into the ship than it did to get us here from the school), he and I were talking about this aspect of the Navy. Simply, doing a good job will not get you praised, because all you did was exactly what you were supposed to do.

Oh, you got that done? Effectively, in a timely fashion? Here's the next task.

This doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that this applies to EVERY aspect of life on base. You will never be praised for ANYTHING that you work hard on. You will be recognized if you really excel, and you will be recognized in an instant if you do anything wrong, or at a standard below the expectation.

So, we were talking about why this is. And we've come to the conclusion that it's not just typical upper-management bull. Quite honestly, we're pretty sure that it's to keep all of us on an emotional spectrum that is at best surly and at worst suicidal. And it's not because they're sadistic. Not entirely - if you're a sadist and you're very good at your job, you get to go be an RDC at Boot Camp. There is a reason for wanting us all to be angry and frustrated all the time.

When you're happy, you don't want to kill anybody. You want to go to the park and play frisbee. Grill burgers while the sun sets, smell the fresh-cut grass. You want to play with your dog. Spend the day with your sweetheart. Do something nice for somebody you like. All kinds of good things. You can't kill people when you're happy. It just doesn't work.

The Navy keeps you in a cramped living environment with absolutely zero time to yourself. The Army treats you like a filth-encrusted floormat. The Marines never get all of the equipment they need to keep themselves alive. The Coast Guard works ridiculously hard and nobody ever takes them as seriously as they do the other branches.

(We have no idea what the Air Force does. They get way more living space and better food than any other branch. Maybe threaten to take those amenities away.)

But, there is a problem here. In theater, there's one "M" word that you don't even like to say. In the Navy, there's another one. And if you destroy morale enough, you could be looking at that M word. So, you've got to keep everyone a little unhappy, but balanced in their unhappiness. If they decide to walk off the flight deck, that's unfortunate. If they decide to band together with some of the other unhappy people and threaten the hierarchy of the ship, many very bad things happen.

Now, it should be noted. I am an ET. My job is about maintaining and fixing messed-up electronics. I shouldn't need to be in a state of constant frustration in order to do this properly. But, not only is a ship a city, it's also a weird, huge, family. And if I'm happy all the time, other people might get a little bit happier, being around me. Could happen to anyone. Can't have that.

...today was actually really, really tough. Class-wise, anyway. I started a procedure yesterday afternoon that should have been wrapped up in forty minutes. It took me eight hours. I will be going in both tomorrow and Sunday to try to make up some of my other work. And that's actually part of my training - that sometimes, you're going to have to fix something and lose a weekend to it.

But I can't stay frustrated for long. Haven't learned that yet. I got home tonight to find that Ambrose had posted a photo from Hanson's New Years' Party, had me with two of the best guys I've ever met, and I had snarfed somebody's fedora. All kinds of smiles. I needed that today.

So, we'll be built into a new alloy, but I don't think anyone knows what that alloy's going to be. Kind of interesting to find out. :)