A civilian recently asked me what percentage of married life had my husband and I spent apart from one another. I've been luckier than most, but anything over 20% garners a gasp. Then a pause. Then a smile. Then, "oh, so that's why you have such a happy marriage."
Yeah, that's it....
In 2000, my husband pulled a year-long unaccompanied tour in the Middle East. When I told my girlfriend, a civilian with no exposure to the military, that my husband would be leaving for a year, she looked at me and said, "What do you mean he's going without you? They can't do that, can they?"
Yes.They.Can.
And the best worst civilians-don't-get-it story came earlier this year when I was trying to close on a real estate transaction while my husband was deployed. I needed a document from him, a document that was very difficult to obtain (more on this later). I tried to explain to the person seeking the document that my husband was located in a "dedicated combat zone", hoping that the explanation might shed some perspective on the situation. It didn't. I was told that my husband could simply drop the document in a FedEx box.
Of course. Why didn't I think of that? I understand the FedEx camel trots by twice a day.
Civilians are amusing sometimes, are they not?
