I was a military wife for twenty years but I remember when I
first came into that community. I felt lost and often confused about the rules.
I couldn’t hug my husband in uniform. No PDA. Nobody wanted to know my social security
number; they wanted my sponsors. I had to closely obey the speed limit. It was
a different world than what I was used to.
Now that I’m no longer a military wife, I realized how
ingrained the practices have become for me. I don’t go to the base as much as I
used to, but when I do, I can see the difference between the military life and
civilian life. Occasionally, I have to remind myself of the rules.
Like walking on the right.
This was something that I didn’t realize I did until I was
walking from the parking lot to the hospital for an appointment. At first, I
was the only one
the sidewalk. Then when another person joined me coming from
the other direction, I immediately moved to the right. The person approaching
me did the same.
I never realized I had adjusted until another person I passed
didn’t move the right. She continued walking down the middle of the sidewalk. I
thought, what’s wrong with you? Move to
the right. I don’t know the woman’s situation, but I wondered if she was a
new military wife and hadn’t been trained yet.
I guess the longer I’m out of the military life the more
I’ll notice how I’ve been trained.
