The Midnight Hour

Part of separating from the Marine Corps, as I will do in June, involves attending a week-long mandatory class called the Transition Assistance Program (TAP).  I am enrolled in the class this week.  Overall, the class is giving me a lot of useful information.  I started planning for transition a long time ago, but TAP is still throwing some things at me that I didn’t think about and helping me ensure all the boxes are checked.

In a class of 42 Marines and sailors I am one of three officers.  I haven’t talked with the other officers about it, but the execution of the class is becoming a little frustrating for me.  I think it stems from the fact that the vast majority of participants are junior Marines, and the class is run with more rigid supervision than I’m accustomed to receiving.  For instance, I was told to be at class at 7:15 AM this morning.  I was there at 7:15 AM.  The building didn’t open until 7:30.  They assumed I couldn’t manage my time and that I needed 15 minutes of fudge time.  In reality, they wasted fifteen minutes of my time.  Those of you who know me understand that I highly value my time, especially time spent in leisure activities.  I figure they cost me about $10 in frustration.

The lead coordinator also told us this afternoon that we could chew gum as long as we didn’t leave it on the floor or put it under a desk.  Is she flippin’ serious?  I’m a grown man with a college degree who’s been entrusted with the lives of Marines in combat and I need to be told not to put my gum on the floor when I’m done chewing it?!?

A guy upstairs in the VA office also pissed me off pretty seriously.  Without recounting the conversation, he basically told me that I couldn’t use the copier because he thought what I wanted to do took more time than was available on my break.  He didn’t advise me against it.  He said I absolutely could not use it.  He was, in essence, telling me that I had no idea how to perform a task during my break and be back in the classroom when the break concluded, something I’ve been successfully executing since Nancy Patterson’s kindergarten class.  Furthermore, he found it necessary to shield me from my own total ineptitude by barring me from using the copier that was provided for the very task I wished to undertake.  I almost went postal, but I managed to quickly calm myself.  I then informed him that I had already performed this procedure once, was well aware of the time requirement, and that I’m pretty good at managing my time–then I thanked him for his advice and left.   Tomorrow I’m using that copier, and if we have to roll, we’ll roll.

Part of that problem stems from the fact that we are allowed and encouraged to wear civilian business attire this week.  I wasn’t in uniform, so I believe this guy assumed I was a junior Marine.  It doesn’t make his behavior any more acceptable, as I wouldn’t talk to a junior Marine that way, but it does help explain the situation.  Perhaps I’m wrong and he’s equally condescending to everyone regardless of race, religion, creed, rank, or sexual orientation.  Who knows?

Tomorrow I’ll dive back in at 7:30 AM instead of 7:15 AM.  Yeah, those fifteen minutes are mine.  I’ve been learning some great information, so I hope the content stays relevant. I also hope the coordinators treat us more like what they’re training us to become–professionals.