The One Where: She Flipped It

Because of my love for the sitcom “Friends,” my theme this month is dedicated to them. The title of every sitcom started with “The One Where.”

Army life brought out the beast within, and I loved every minute of it!

The Beginning

When I entered the military, I was 18, eager, and one spunky soldier. Literally willing to work as hard as I could to be one o the toughest in my platoon. No matter how tired I was, I kept going, and when lights were out, I crashed so I could be the first one up in the morning and ready to flip bunks if I had to.

The Prep

The joy of flipping bunks gave me a high. If the soldiers were too lazy to make sure the covers were tight, the sergeants would flip them and make you remake the bed. When I saw them do that, I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to be able to do that. However, I wasn’t quite sure if Privates were allowed to do it, but I kept hope alive.

I made sure I was the first one up and that my bunk was the tightest in the barracks. You could bounce a quarter of my bed, unlike the other soldiers. I remember looking around the barracks at all the sloppy beds and thinking, do you really think your bed is going to stay face up. The soldiers would nervously try to tighten up the covers but continuously coming up short. Some of them had never made a bed a day in their life, and it showed.

Flipping Bunks

Then just like that, the door would fling open at 400 hours. All you would hear are the loud, deep voices saying formation formation formation! We would all stand with our hands behind our back and look as stiff as a statue, and all of a sudden, one bunk would fall right after each other. The soldiers would frantically try to fix them before we had to start our 2-mile run.

I held back my laughter because, well, I didn’t want to be the new target.

It Happened

A month into basic training, it finally happened!

Drill Sergeant Henry yelled out my name and said, “check the bunks and start flipping.” I lit up like a Christmas tree and couldn’t wait to flip my first bunk. I slowly walked by each bunk, and just like that, they all fail down… well, not all but enough to satisfy my urge.

You could have chosen any blog to read, but you chose mine, and I’m honored!

~Belladonna~