"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.
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