My Apathy
I am indifferent about our apathy. Unlike some among our ranks I truly enjoy our forum. Even the most trivial topics keep me interested. I feel I can ask questions on any topic and rely on the expertise and diversity of our class to fulfill my curiosity. There is one query I have yet to get addressed. Why is our class the apathetic class? Do we really not care about our Alma Mater? Why is our participation in class gifts so low? Do we believe we are owed something from our experience? Are we still trying to fight the system and pave our own path along the Long Gray Line? Please hear me out. If I can change one person’s mind I will feel a lot better about my rant.
My experience at West Point certainly does not define me, but it is an integral part of who I am. Is it the great education that makes us apathetic? Is it the great leadership training we got? Why can’t we all look beyond that? Here is why I am done with our Apathy. While I wasn’t a Gray Hog by any stretch of the definition, I can not help but feel the tug of that Long Gray Line. There are so many things that changed my apathy; here is what makes me un-apathetic. I know on any given day, if I am in dire straights and need help I can pick up the phone, call some West Point friends and get help. I also know I would eagerly respond to getting a similar phone call. Every time I see the number Seven I think, ”What the hell rhymes with seven other than heaven and leaven?” Every time I see a bottle of Tabasco sauce, I think of Linc Haynes, plebe year standing on the chair during dinner yelling, “Sir, would anyone else care for the Tabasco Sauce?”.then drinking the entire bottle so we could “Fall out” and actually eat a complete meal on a B-1 table. Every time my daughter has to write an essay for her High School classes I think, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Every time I channel surf and see a Lumber Jack competition on ESPN 2 I think, “What the hell were they thinking in I- 4?” When I see Ghostbusters I think – Theta Goat. When I see pop up sprinklers, I think homecoming. When I take family and friends to West Point for a game I point to Washington’s statue and say that horse’s balls used to be shined with Brasso all the time. When I see MOTRIN I think of Airborne School. We all of put our standard issue MOTRIN into a pile so we could give it to Rudy Estevez who obviously broke his foot on the first jump and did not want to get recycled. He made all the runs, Ron Lewis and I sandwiched him between us and threw him out of the plane four additional times.Dynamite Parachute Landing Fall SGT Airborne! Every time I see Black Hawk Down I yell, “Jim Yacone was my roommate!” When I see Snoopy, I think of my Beloved Flying Circus. When I see cheerleaders I want to yell, “pass her up”. When I see pound cake I want to cut it into seven equal pieces using dental floss. I think of the controlled burn being the only time I “smoked” pot. I think of the dumb ass Air Force pilots who LITERALLY blew us off the runway on the way to Colorado for the football game by starting the engines of the C141 ahead of us while we were still loading up the planes in back. When I look in my sock drawer, I smile.they don’t. I think of being challenged to a pull up contest by a general. But most of all, I think of all of you reading my rant. Why are we the apathetic class? I’m sick of hearing that! Only 18% participation? Come On!
NOTHING COOL RHYMES WITH SEVEN! Our motto is Our Country We Strengthen! I have always felt I had a rendezvous with destiny. It’s not just me, we all do. Whether we continue to actively serve our nation (God Bless you all and your families) or have chosen to pursue other goals, our time to live up to that motto is now! From now on I am indifferent about our apathy. I will support our class and its gift to our Alma Mater. To all my C-2 friends – expect a call, because I am going to push you also. I hope you all do the same. There, I am off my soap box and ready to talk about the damned football team again, but first tell me what makes you un-pathetic?
I always thought of West Point as a personality intensifier. (See Robin Williams’ joke about cocaine.)
Apathy question for ya: Jim Glacken put out that fund raiser / fitness challenge thingy, and exactly four folks signed up. Four. What happened there? There was no actual requirement to donate. Folks could have made their donation goal a dollar per whatever, or a penny. No need to actually reveal numbers.
It’s a shame, because I had a ball. Biked 3,200 miles this summer, and continued with after work rides until we ran out of day light. Wore out three sets of tires and two chains.
So maybe that’s not everyone’s thing. But still… four?
Good reasons: The discussion board on the WP-Org site sucks. Hard to navigate, not intuitive, not user friendly. If our class listserver is the technological equivalent of semaphore, then the discussion board is maybe the telegraph. So that could be a reason folks steered away. But still… only four?
I’d have thought that if someone said, let’s have a class knitting competition, you’d get at least a dozen participants.
So Bugle Notes jut surpassed that drive in registrations already! Saaaaweeet!
I thought semaphores were fossils
Mike: I think you’re confusing it with those graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow things.
Since we are getting way off topic a similar word in Spanish “Semaforo” means traffic signal.
Kiko, Are you sure? I thought a semaforo was when someone tried to grow a ‘fro but stopped half-way.
Old Man: It’s windy today.
Old Lady: No it’s not, it’s Thursday.
Old Man: Me, too… let’s get something to drink.
And not to be confused with a semi-freddo, a blended iced coffee drink.
Semi-freddo? I thought that was Michael Corleone’s Half brother.
wow… i had no idea only 4 people signed up for jim’s challenge… and i agree we’re a pretty light class when it comes to giving… this economy is only gonna make things tighter…
I wonder if Bugle Notes might alter everyone’s apathy? Or is that asking too much?
What about Semimodo, the halfback of Notre Dame?
Semi-freudo is when you make a malapropism and a freudian slip at the same time.
George: isn’t that “with half a scoop of ice cream”?
lndsfln
Kiko;
Great Write-up and I would like to attempt an answer from someone who has not “Given”
Our life at the Acamedy definitely lives in us and this fact is played out just about every day in our lives. The older we get, the more we see the association between the two.
Is it wrong to say that I am giving at the main office? I love the ability to see what some of our classmates are doing both in and out of the Army. All contribute in my eyes and all of us are still very deep into Service, Faith and Family. Maybe when Susan and I are “Empty Nesters” we will become financial contributers, but until them, I contribute the pounds of flesh and the sacrifices my family makes for Uncle Sam. That might sound a little selfish because it does to me, but seem to sleep well by putting my family and faith financially ahead USMA at this point in our lives.
Until the time comes, I do what I can for the institution I believe in. I routinely seek out exceptional Soldiers and preach the opportunities they have at the Prep School and the Academy. Kids with academic and athletic talent in my kids schools get the West Point message from me on routine basis. I live my life by the values of Our Alma Mater: I am not perfect, but who is?
What does all this mean, who knows? Maybe it’s me making excuses or maybe it’s me telling everyone to give what and where they can. As long as you live out your daily lives through the lenses of the values of USMA, you have contributed. Our experiences at the Academy were not perfect, but as Graduates, we should continue to demand perfection from the Academy. Younger Grads should be taken under our wings and mentored: praised for their exceptional performance and disciplined if not living up to USMA Values. Strengthen the line…That is what our Class Charter is and I give at the office every day.
Cheers to all!!!
Nothing good rhymes with seven… which is why my class motto is “Always Remember, Never Surrender”… we didn’t even attempt to rhyme!
I feel like a large number of my classmates were apathetic before we even graduated. I think a lot of that stems from the changes in Beast and the overall atmosphere at school; hardly anyone in my plebe company remained friends once we ’scrambled’ because we had such an easy year; our neighboring company’s plebes, however, who had a ‘tough’ company, remain friends to this day. The easier it gets the less we share that common bond of overcoming those challenges. My class did not even have ‘The Definition of Leather’ in our knowledge books; it was replaced by Sexual Harassment/Assault Reporting Procedures. We didn’t have ‘How is the Cow’ either. Believe me, I hear about how hard it ‘used to be’ from my Dad, who’s USMA ‘78.
For the most part, the fellow West Point LTs in my unit and I never talk about USMA or anything related to it; so many people have such negative opinions of West Pointers that we avoid telling anyone we got our commission there, unless they pry. I was made fun of the other day for wearing an Army athletics sweatshirt. It’s kind of disappointing to me, having worked so hard for four years; I honestly enjoyed my USMA experience. (Okay, so a semester in Paris and some rule-breaking kind of helped me enjoy it more…)
Maybe in a few years my classmates will start realizing that we were a part of something kind of special, something most people will never experience. Of course, being a relatively new class we aren’t yet expected to be giving much back to USMA/AOG yet… give us ten years and we’ll see if the apathy subsides and whether we remember each other or subscribe to the Assembly.
Aubrey, Thanks for your reply. It was great to get another perspective. Our Firstie Year TAC was ‘78 (Garry Wilson) ask you dad if he knew him. You bring up a great point, I was in B-1 as a plebe and for those of us who survived that is all we talk about. That company wouldn’t even talk to upper class ladies. I remember that class of ‘84 was the first to graduate a woman in B-1. It’s sad to say but I learned nothing positive about leadrship during my plebe year. The one thing that did occur though is it brought our class very close together. It was very much an us against them attitude. Someday I will admit to most of the things we did to get even with upperclassmen. As for you wearing the sweat shirt…wear it with pride! Be proud of what you accomplished, if anyone gives you any shit…we got your back. Thank you very much for your service to our nation
Kiko