July 9, 1997 - Oh, the Food!

970709 - Woke up @ 0230. Ate and slept again until 0700 when we went to work. It rained last night so, instead of mowing, we fixed footlockers. We then had chow. About chow: this week we've eaten afternoon chow in the enlisted and officers' mess hall and we've eaten like kings! For example, today I had veal, spaghetti, pizza, salad, PB&J sandwich, cherry pie, Tang, an apple, and mixed veggies. Unfortunately, after chow today we didn't get our usual nap so I was pretty tired. After chow, we went through some squad bays stacking faulty mattresses so we can replace them tomorrow. Right after returning from work, we were sent to the chow hall to help them. After that, we ate chow and B_______ and I were sent to post as firewatch. It's 1850 and we'll probably get to bed around 1930. I'm pretty tired but I'm doing alright. 51 days left.
I mentioned a few days ago that non-Drill Instructor Marines were vastly different than Drill Instructors. This point was never more clear than at noon chow during Mess and Maintenance week.

As I write in my journal, we ate in the enlisted chow hall. That is because, when the platoons are actually at Weapons Battalion for training, they do not eat lunch in the mess hall but rather have bagged lunches. For whatever reason, it was decided that making extra lunches for those of us not working in the mess hall would be too difficult. Therefore, we ate like actual Marines. Scratch that. We ate like absolute gluttons. On our second day in the enlisted Marines' mess hall, one of the cooks pointed out to us that we didn't have to get only one item; we could take as much food as we would eat. At that time (and, honestly, sort of to this day), no sweeter thing could have been said to me. And so, I piled my tray with so much food that I had to layer food on top of food.

It should be noted that, despite the increase in food intake, we still made sure to eat fast enough so that we would be able to take our post-feast naps. It was a really difficult week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

August 29, 1997 - Graduation!

970829 - Graduation!! I don't remember or care what happened 2-day. I'm going home and I never have to see this place as a recruit again! Graduation day begins with a Company formation PT run. It's easily the most motivating run in all of boot camp. Well, it is if you're not stupid enough to volunteer to be a road-guide. My whole "volunteer for everything" mentality finally came back to bite me on the last day of boot camp. Instead of spending the morning on an incredibly motivating formation run through Parris Island, chanting all of the most motivating and possibly not-allowed cadences, I spent it sprinting from intersection to intersection and then jogging in place while the company ran by. It was a not-spectular end to my not-spectacular time in boot camp. After that, my journal actually captures everything pretty well: it ended, I was glad for the end, I was too tired to reflect on anything. I'm actually in a similar mind-set now, having just sp...
Read more

August 27, 1997 - Losing My Job

970828 - Yesterday we turned in our rifles. That's about it. As we wound down toward graduation, there was less and less that needed to be done. One important detail was returning our rifles. With the return of our rifles, though, I lost the best job, and the thing that undoubtedly sustained me throughout so much of boot camp: Early Chow. With no weapons to guard, there was no longer the need to have firewatch during chow time. This meant that I actually had to eat with the rest of the platoon, like a commoner. I had to wait in line, had to sit in the main section of the chow hall (we'd always sat in small tables on the edge of the room), and had to sit with whomever I'd been near in line (i.e.: not with C___). I was not a fan. On the plus side, I only had two days to deal with it.
Read more

August 28, 1997 - Family Day

970827 - Yesterday we turned in our rifles. That's about it. Today I saw my parents and family for the first time in 3 months. We walked around some and I even rode in a car! Also C____ came with my parents so he was there. We ate at some restaurant on Parris Island. The food wasn't much better than in the mess hall but the company was. When we were touring the squad bay my father met DI Sgt. M______ and told him I thought he was my favorite DI. I wouldn't really care if M______ wasn't on duty tonight. Oh well. I only have one more night here so I don't care!!! The day before graduation is called Family Day. It's exactly what it sounds like: a chance to see your family and show them around the island. When my parents saw me marching in, my mother didn't even recognize me because I had lost so much weight. It was great to get to see them and even better that I was now one night away from leaving Parris Island for good.
Read more