"Those Little Things" (repost)
(no name) ((no email))
Tue, 14 Jul 1998 00:50:02 +0000
Hi Scouters!
Guess what?? I've been selected to go to some country called
"Qatar", off of the Saudi Arabia coastline. I'll be there doing
some public affairs work for the Army if everything goes well (I'm
waiting on the gaining command to say "yeah, we've got the money
and yeah, that's one of the guys we want!").
If I'm on the team, I leave next Monday for up to 90 days.
So this past weekend, Jessi and I played "hooky" from work, from
home, and from everything computerized (or as much as we could!!)
and did some "personal research" in the Land Between the Lakes.
I'll post more about it in the morning, as well as to followup on
the OA sash thing that I've gotten a lot of email on!!
In the meantime, I'm getting my personal gear ready, and here's a
posting that I sent to the list in the spring of last year, as I
was getting ready to come back to the States from Germany. If you
change the time of year from spring to summer, it still rings true.
Finally, I'm looking into what kind of email I'll have access to,
and of course, I'll still be with everyone while I'm there....
(yeah, yeah, I know...don't forget the sunscreen....*giggle*)
------------------------------------
A "Little" Clearing
This afternoon, I was performing "clearing" actions. You take a
piece of paper, laserprinted with the names, locations and spaces.
You travel with this paper to various places to "check you off"
their databases, lists, and to provide you with your records or
information to take to the next community or unit. "Clearing"
allows soldiers to perform all of the essential administrative
tasks before leaving a military community or unit -- and in my
case, it's both.
It's paper-intensive, this "clearing". You have X number of your
orders, directing you to move onward to your new destination.
Everyone wants at least ONE copy of those orders, and in some
places, they ask for four, six, eight copies. That's eight TIMES
eight, for I've been assigned and reassigned between Army
components, between commands, and between units within the command
while I've been here. A LOT of paper to be carting around from
place to place! But the Army, even in this age of electronics and
technology, STILL runs on its paperwork.
This "clearing" starts early in the morning, and by mid-morning,
you're barely dragging from the boredom and the walking from
building to building, up and down stairs, to offices which inform
you "Sorry sir, the person that does "clearings" isn't in today.
Come by tomorrow at 0730 and she'll sign your papers." You smile
and say, "Thank you", turn and walk out to the NEXT destination on
your "scavenger hunt", hoping to "get that signature before they go
to lunch".
It's hard to keep that smile that you're supposed to have on your
face all of the time. It's harder because this same morning, I was
FORCED to do without coffee...or anything else...so that someone
can make a stickpin out of one of my arms and draw another tube of
red fluid called "blood" from it. They did it before, but they
wanted to "do it again, so we can clear you".
Everyone is on edge during this "clearing". This is the time in
which you must account for every piece of equipment you've drawn.
Every dime of the Army's money you've spent if you are not a
"permanent party" servicemember. Every place where you've been you
have to document and, again, provide those "X copies of your
orders". When you've been so many places during a long deployment
period like this, having a "system" means the difference between
the Army taking money from your monthly pay, or being placed on
"admin hold" until the matter is fully resolved.
We have a Reserve soldier or two here on "Admin hold". I haven't
seen Sergeants Bloom nor Fann smile ONCE since they were told "We
have to keep you here until this matter is resolved. I'm
sorry...you're NOT going home yet...you didn't do your clearing
right!"
I am determined, no matter how much I LOVE it here, NOT to be
placed on "Admin hold". I was going to do my clearing PERFECT.
So it was a BIG surprise to me when after sitting in hardended
chairs for 20 minutes, watching a rerun of "Ricki Lake" and waiting
for "the clearing person" to come back from her coffeebreak (!),
that the young soldier sitting beside me in those unconfortable
chairs struck up a conversation.
"Scout leader?". He pointed at my black binder, which I had open
and which ALWAYS contain a small international Scout lapel pin. My
family's photos are in there, as well as lots of those Post-it{tm}
yellow and green notes too, but he noticed the pin. I was copying
my expenses from one of those yellow thingys to a military form.
Part of the "clearing process".
"Sometimes. When I can have the time to do it." He then proceded
to tell me that he just "rotated" there, and he was looking for a
Troop to work with. I recommended a couple, and just happened to
have the District Executive's card with his phone number...and I
shared the information with him.
"You know, sir. I really admire officers," the soldier stated. He
paused, nodding his head in the affirmative. "You guys are always
so organized."
"No", I said, turning to him and away from Ms. Lake on the set.
"I just remembered what I was taught in Scouts, that's all. Don't
follow it all the time, but hey...have you heard the story about
the Littles?" I started to smile, knowing what would happen next.
"No".
"There's a family that I know, last named Little (I *do* know a
Little, but Edith isn't related to this story!). They always kept
everything in place, had a BEAUTIFUL home, and despite all NINE
children being kids, they took care of everything they owned. See,
they lived in eastern Kentucky, whereby personal possessions were
hard to come by and harder to pay for. So, they knew from a very
early time to take good care of what they had, and to organize
things so that they knew where to find them."
The kid was hooked.
"So, I asked Mr. Little one afternoon, just *how* did he do
it...what was their secret for being so organized, so neat...so
GREAT as a family. I wanted to know for my own benefit. Mr.
Little winked at me, and told me, "Mike, tell you a secret..." and
then he whispered in my ear:
"Every Little helps"."
The two other soldiers next to us, eavsdropping on our
conversation, started laughing, and then one of them repeated the
line, "Every Little helps...get it??" and the four of us enjoyed
a short time in which we forgot about "clearing", "coffee" and even
"soldiering"....
We shared a laugh.
I explained to the soldier that "That was one of the things my
Scoutmaster told me....use it please!" Shortly after that, Mrs.
Washington returned, and I was back to "clearing".
It's the small things, not the "big picture", that people will
remember. During all of our wars, although we can recall the names
of the campaigns, where they were fighting and who were "the good
guys" and "the bad guys", there's a LOT of soldiers that will
recall sharing a laugh, a meal, a particular town, a buddy.
Those are what memories are all about. So to all of those going to
Spring Camporees, to Conclaves, to "Spring Break camp". To those
Scouters getting ready for Wood Badge, or Day Camp or conferences.
And to those that they leave behind during this period of outdoor
activity....remember the Littles. Every one of them helped. Every
one was important. And it's the little things that are most
remembered about *any* event or activity.
We're ALL "littles" in the overall scheme of Life. Everyone of us
can "help" another "little".
Help create a "little" experience in the life of someone.
Settummanque!
(c) 1998 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") (502) 827-9201
(settummanque, the blackeagle) http://dynasty.net/users/blkeagle
241 Fairview Dr., Henderson, KY 42420-4339 blkeagle@dynasty.net
privately at kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@hq.21taacom.army.mil
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