You Know What They Say About Assuming...

Assume - Makes an !@# out of U and ME

I certainly have done (and continue to do) my share of assuming about a wide range of topics. But I am continually amazed at what people assume about me from the one simple fact that I was in the military.

I have my service ribbons (along with a few metal pins - my sergeant stripes among others) hanging on my cubicle wall. It's a conversation piece more than anything else; that, and I'm dang proud to have served - albiet in a fairly limited way. However, when I'm not being portrayed as a right-wing extremist clinging to the edge of sanity along with my Bible and guns, I find that some people have a somewhat odd impression of me. Of course, I never claimed to be "normal."

When someone finds out that I was in the military, there are two main reactions. First, from others that served, the reaction is along the lines of "Hey, you're my best friend ever! Let's talk guns!" (Sorry buddy...I was in Air Force communications, not the infantry; I don't even currently own a gun...although that will change soon). The other main reaction is from those that never served in the military: "Wow...that must be why your desk is so clean. You must be really organized." (I don't really have a response to this other than blinking a few times.)

In all honesty, my time in the military didn't have as much of an impact on who I am as, say, joining the Church, or getting married and having kids (I won't go into the assumptions that happen when people finally realize I'm the father of the five kids whose pictures hang on my cubicle wall...).

When you combine my new position at work with my military past, my religion, my family composition, and the fact that I often wear a tie - you can just imagine what people around here think of me. It certainly isn't the same way that the people I eat lunch with think of me, that is for sure. (...and that is a whole other story for another time)