Things learned on a 36 hour military pass (Part 2)

Bet you caught the (Part 2) so you know that this is the second installment of things I learned while spending time with Josiah and his battle buddy while I visited them in Georgia.

• The first time I asked a question that required a decision, "What do you want to do off base?" resulted in the deer-in-the-headlights look. "Decision, you want us to make a decision?" We laughed at the fact that for the past nine weeks all of their decisions were made for them. We ended up taking turns making decisions.

• First decision was almost whispered from the backseat, "Mam, do you think we could stop to get some coffee?". Coffee was not allowed for these new recruits. I thought the Army ran on coffee. Yes, we stopped for coffee. Starbucks-- because they did not want to be tempted by Krispy Kremes or Dunkin Donuts.

•  The most important luxury was being able to eat at a leisurely pace. In the Army food is more inhaled than eaten.

• Josiah casually mentions a trip to the civilian's hospital. After I heard why he brought this up in the conversation, my motherly instincts took over to discover why he was in a hospital at all! His boots were causing foot issues and he had to get some special insoles. Phew!

•  They did want a few special treats but they were also cautious about the impact of of those sweets. They were very selective.

• Josiah developed so many blisters on his feet that the other members of his platoon always knew he would have some moleskin available. They went through rolls of moleskin and Josiah's blisters became infected. I learned this valuable fact because I noticed Josiah taking some medicine.

• The closest I heard to a complaint was the difficulty they had in resolving some financial affairs because they did not have the information they needed and the sargents did not help them.

• Showing before and after pictures to them was a shock. They honestly had not realized their bodies had changed so much. Here are some pictures of Josiah. What do you think?