A group of us poolees (Marine Corps cleared/sworn-in enlistment candidates waiting on our ship date) visited the Marine Corps Museum today. It was a long long LONG trip, but it was kind of like going away with your spouse for a weekend. You get time away from your daily life to focus on your commitment and to remember why you fell in love in the first place.

It was also a really great opportunity to bond with my fellow poolees, most of whom I only see once a month. We’re all essentially on the same plan these days. Sure, we may all have separate lives and jobs and dreams, but we share the goal of wanting to earn the title of United States Marine. Ooh Fucking Rah.

Now, you may wonder, as a gal pal of mine did recently, how amazing is it to hang out with guys who have been cleared by the government (read: no drug use, no mental or physical illness, a desire to be big and bad) and have a desire to bring l their bodies into prime physical condition, if it’s not already there.

Well…I won’t get on my feminist soapbox. Another post, perhaps. Suffice it to say that believing I can not control myself in hitting on or objectifying my peers is disappointing. Just like we ladies scoff at the sleazy cad leering out his car window at us as we pass, it is equally important that we remember acting like we can’t think of guys without planning out our next boyfriend is just as abhorrent.

So. The trip. It was really great, and one of the nice things for me was the camaraderie. Like I mentioned in my last post, I be gettin’ lonesome, and I don’t see many people I can identify with on a day-to-day basis. I work with fifth graders, my friends are in college, and my little sister is still in high school. Most of my peers, if they’re still around here, have no intentions of ever leaving. It’s one of those tiny, black hole towns that sucks the energy out of everyone and makes it nearly impossible to pull free. So being around people like me, who are also from small towns, who are also joining the Marine Corps, and who are also awesome, are good people in my book.

Today was awesome, but what really made it great was the conversation we had on the way home. We talked about anything and everything: military policy, ethics, religion, sports, music, the fucking Illuminati. And what surprised me were the viewpoints. I thought a lot of them would be more close minded about certain topics, like gay people. Not rights, just the people. There were only two of us girls, and one of us was asleep. The rest of my conversational partners were straight, macho-type, conservative Christian guys, and, darn my stereotyping, I thought they’d have problems with it. But they didn’t. I have emotional ties to the topic, and it warmed my heart that much more for them to say, “I don’t care how people are. For someone to exclude somebody because they’re gay or whatever is juvenile.” Not the most eloquent support of gay rights, but a real one.

At any rate, I guess this is just my way to express how happy and thankful I am for the people who pass through my life, no matter if they are here for a moment or a lifetime.

[END OF SENTIMENTAL MUSING]