"I Got A Nickel!!"

The problem with gaining some solid perspective on the things we previously feared seems to be that fear is one of the greatest motivators of our lives. Take away that fear, and in its absence, I seem to float in a sort of complacent zero-gravity. When you figure out that you actually CAN deal with just about anything, the stick-shaking consequences don't carry as much weight. You have to actually pursue what's good, because you're no longer concerned about fleeing from what's bad.

Dangerous, dangerous. We're not made to sit still.

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On a completely unrelated note, I was standing as the Petty Officer of the Watch for four hours on our quarterdeck. The Messenger of the Watch stands next to me - he's responsible for doing whatever running-around needs to be done in those four hours. I'm responsible for everything that's not supposed to happen on the quarterdeck.

During long watches, you find little things to amuse yourself. I don't know how well this would fly on a ship; I'm not there yet. Here, you'll often come in late at night to find the Watch playing The Name Game or something equivalent. Everyone has something. We do our job whenever people come by, but when you're faced with a good three hours of studying the opposite wall, you'll naturally begin to play with something. I like Sudoku, personally. This time around, the Messenger decided that he was going to ask for a quarter. From every person who passed by.

The splendid thing about asking for a quarter is that it gives the impression that you're very close to whatever it is you wanted out of the vending machine. So, even if someone doesn't have a quarter, they might still give you whatever other small coins are to be found in their pockets. He ended up getting three bottles of pop over the course of that watch, plus some 96 cents.

We stand between two flags - the National Ensign and the ship's flag. The USS Franklin was hit during the Battle of Coral Sea by two kamikaze pilots, killing over 900 sailors, but she still made it back to port; she's known as "The Ship That Wouldn't Die." The flag commemorates this incident. All of the barracks are named for ships that served well in battle.

I came back just as two Rovers from the Bonhomme Richard were walking off with our ship's flag neatly rolled. I raised a questioning eyebrow at the Messenger and he just assured me, "It's cool, they're from the Bonhomme Richard." Right. This explains nothing. All right.

Later, the watchbill coordinator came by and noticed the conspicuous absence (unsurprising - it's eight feet tall and a very strong blue), and demanded to know where the ship's flag was. I explained, "The Bonhomme Richard, ask the Messenger." Visibly agitated, she turned to the Messenger, just coming around the corner from some other task.

"The Bonhomme Richard stole our flag?!"
Not hearing her, he cheerfully announced, "I got a nickel!"

This unfortunate timing led to a swift-spreading rumor in the barracks that the Messenger of the Watch had given the Bonhomme Richard our ship's flag for a nickel. While it later transpired that the B.R. had been given the task of collecting all of the ship's flags for a parade that was to take place the next day, we're still hearing some echoes of it.