Walking Right

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.