#60 - Frustrations

Ah, the Army. Sometimes I wonder if I would have been better off enlisting in another branch (or not having enlisted at all). These thoughts are often brought upon by bouts of frustration with what is going on around me...

I am currently waiting to (possibly) have my birth control prescription re-prescribed by a military physician. I had to ask seven (!) times before the Drill Sergeants would allow me to come to the clinic (they said, "Soldier, that's not important." or "You won't need birth control in basic training.") It wasn't until I pulled the "woman card" and inferred to a male DS that I would bleed all over myself without the prescription that they would send me (hey, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes to get results). Then when I was finally allowed to go, I was yelled at for not coming to the clinic sooner. *sigh*

Unfortunately I've run into a brick wall with trying to get this prescription refilled. It seems that my legitimate prescription is not good enough for the Army physicians, and unfortunately I have been unable to contact my doctor at home. Oddly enough, I've also been unable to reach him by telephone. Guess I won't have a chance to do this again for awhile. I will have to deal with having a messed up menstrual cycle through basic training...hooray.

This morning we lined up our duffel bags and civilian bags in preparation for shipping out to basic training. Everything is done very fast, orders from the Drill Sergeants executed with lightning speed, accompanied by a lot of screaming and yelling. The biggest problem I have here is not being able to understand what many of the NCOs are saying. Unfortunately many aren't very articulate, and to compound the confusion, some have heavy regional dialects. They often yell at us through the intercom in the barracks, and it sounds like the adults from the Charlie Brown cartoons a la "Wa wa wa wa... wa wa wa wa!" Every once in awhile you will catch a word, and piece together the context cues, hoping that you can assemble them like a puzzle and understand what is being asked of you.

Last night there was a disturbance in the barracks, in my bay. One of the female holdovers from the bay downstairs was apparently caught with one of the males, and someone told one of the Drill Sergeants. This is a different girl than the resident "platoon ho" that is usually caught up to no good. Afterwards, the female in question came into our bay while we were sleeping and began screaming at everyone for getting her in trouble. It was quite the scene. Thus far my stay in Reception has been characterized by similar public displays of drama.

Sometimes I feel like I've been cast into a company of fools. Someone suggested to me earlier that it would be nice if they grouped together everyone with the highest ASVAB scores, or maybe more mature folks, in the same platoon. I jokingly answered that such a platoon would probably consist of a handful of people. It surprises me that many people here are having difficulty following even the simplest instructions given by the Drill Sergeants. If I were a cadre member here, I would probably find it easy to lose my temper as well.

I'm taking a break from letter writing now to go back to the rote memorization of items from the "smart book" we've been issued. I am currently working on learning "The Soldier's Creed". It seems like I've read this book several times already, and I crave something, anything other than the IET Soldier's Handbook. I believe my brain has begun to atrophy from lack of non-military stimulation...