Observation Post

It's not really a coffee shop as a Seattleite would expect. It's more a breakfast item/coffee vendor tucked in the second floor of motel on base, but it has a few reasonably comfortable chairs, tables near outlets and nobody gives you the stink eye if you hang out for hours with your single drip coffee.

Often when I'm killing time, I bring the trusty old lappy along and settle in a corner to catch up on news, whittle away at email, peruse facebook, read blogs or even browse Failbook if I'm really trying to kill time. However, even better than the amusements the interwebs hold is the people watching at this particular establishment- a little slice of military life.

This little cubby is apparently a hot spot for folks waiting at the hotel to PCS (permanently move) out of the country and I've been privy to some fascinating conversations, as summer is when many people move to accommodate school schedules. From the drawl-tastic Southern young man frantically trying to corral his two small children while his wife texted indifferently in the corner, to an older couple browsing the newspaper and chatting, to the mom with two teens challenging them to a game of hangman, it's fascinating to be a fly on the wall during their upheaval.

I've witnessed a correlation: those who seem to have more time in the military often have the same conversation ("Yes sir, we can't leave the country without x, y and z documents. Any chance we can get them today?") with far less panic and frustration than those who are visibly newer to the service. I can only imagine where I would have rated on that scale during our first move, and ponder how many moves one has to do before putting all your belongings in crates (every 1-3 years) and shipping them to a new country in which you have no home, no friends, no language skills and knowing that everything will turn out in the end. As much as I may poke fun of the concept, that definitely qualifies as Army strong.

Vocab of the day:
Korean: 사람들  (sah-rahm-dil) = people
Military: OP= observation post