"Afternoon, sir, I'm LT Alyssa Armstrong, the Chief Engineer ---"
"Ohhhh.... You're the Chief Engineer?"
As sorely tempted as I was to blurt out, "Hey, 1 Star Admiral, there are female Chief Engineers out there!", I resisted. I figured I was better mannered than that.
This was a 1 Star Admiral who actually said this to me during a meet and greet. I mean, I knew he was old school. After all, he rocked the CNT Khaki uniform they stopped making when I was commissioned. And like only the ridiculously old school guys, he wore it without an undershirt so that it appeared there were a pair of gray squirrels trying to escape from his chest.
Crazy Admirals, we are not unicorns... We do exist.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
"Mom, er, I mean, Ma'am"
"Mom!"
"Did you just call me 'Mom'?"
"Er, I meant, 'Ma'am."
It finally happened to me. One of my sailors actually called me "Mom!"
The Navy is one of the few occupations where you are considered old at nearly thirty and near the grave when you get past forty. As the senior female in my department, I sort of take on the "Mom" persona. I mean, seriously what other person other than your parent talks to you about safe driving, safe sex, gives you pats on the back for a job well done, and then scolds you when you disappoint them? Because my voice tends to get sort of screetchy (technical term) when I yell, I've learned that my most effective tactic has been to sit a sailor down and tell him that I'm disappointed in him.
It usually works.
But it usually means that I'm their Mom, or at least their shipboard Mom. And don't get me wrong, I refer to the people in my department (and divisions even when I was a baby ensign) as my "kids." They are young after all. I do feel sort of proud when they get promoted or when they receive awards. I do sort of get all "Mother Bear" on people when my "kids" are threatened, insulted, or picked on by other people outside of my department.
But still... Keep in your head. No need to actually say it out loud... though it did earn a smile. Maybe even a gold sticker.
"Did you just call me 'Mom'?"
"Er, I meant, 'Ma'am."
It finally happened to me. One of my sailors actually called me "Mom!"
The Navy is one of the few occupations where you are considered old at nearly thirty and near the grave when you get past forty. As the senior female in my department, I sort of take on the "Mom" persona. I mean, seriously what other person other than your parent talks to you about safe driving, safe sex, gives you pats on the back for a job well done, and then scolds you when you disappoint them? Because my voice tends to get sort of screetchy (technical term) when I yell, I've learned that my most effective tactic has been to sit a sailor down and tell him that I'm disappointed in him.
It usually works.
But it usually means that I'm their Mom, or at least their shipboard Mom. And don't get me wrong, I refer to the people in my department (and divisions even when I was a baby ensign) as my "kids." They are young after all. I do feel sort of proud when they get promoted or when they receive awards. I do sort of get all "Mother Bear" on people when my "kids" are threatened, insulted, or picked on by other people outside of my department.
But still... Keep in your head. No need to actually say it out loud... though it did earn a smile. Maybe even a gold sticker.
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