We’re still waiting for our orders to come in, but to pass the time we're playing a stress-inducing game I’m sure you’re all familiar with. It’s called Hurry-Up-And-Wait, and I’m pretty sure we’re losing. I don’t know why I’m always surprised by the lack of organization in the military, but these days I’m literally baffled by how difficult they make something as simple as a PCS.
Don’t get me wrong, I know moving—whether CONUS or OCONUS—is far from simple and a lot of work goes into making them happen, but it’s nothing new. People have been PCSing for decades; so you would think there’d be a pretty good system down by now: talk to this person, get in touch with that person, go see him, speak to her, cross this “t,” dot that “I,” and sign on this dotted line. Instead, they make it as difficult by having little to no direction and an ever-changing list of what we need to do to move to the next step.
I’m sure I sound really bitter here, but I’m not…not at this very moment, at least. Whenever we take a step back (after jumping forward two feet, of course), I soak in the frustration and immediately vent to get it out of my system. After my rant is over I realize it’s out of my control and remember to be patient and nice to those who hold our future in our hands.
Besides drinking copious amounts of wine and praying for patience, what are your strategies for beating the hurry-up-and-wait game?
photo by: Robert Couse-Baker
