(copyright-free clipart from Dover).
As part of the mid-1990’s force draw-down, we were bringing boatloads of stuff back from military bases in Europe and a lot of it was being off-loaded at Camp Lejeune. For reasons I don’t remember I was part of the planning team for that goat-rope and that meant hauling myself down to the pier several times a week to attend meetings. At one of them we got the extremely unwelcome news that a gypsy moth had been found among the equipment. This was the sort of information that, if substantiated, was going to send the State of North Carolina into conniptions. The atmosphere in the briefing room was a little tense.
An army colonel was sitting next to me. I dunno, maybe he thought I looked like an entomologist.
He: How the *(&#$ do they know it was a gypsy moth?
Me: The tambourines and the tiny gold earrings were a dead giveaway.
He (after a few moments of silence): You little pissant.
Me: Yes, sir.
6 comments:
Hee, hee! I totally get it. Similar conniptions could ensue here, too (I work at a Port on the West Coast). One day one of the Port engineers came to my office with a Polyphemus Moth with 4"+ wingspan, hiding it from everyone to come up and ask me "Is it an Asian Gypsy Moth???" I wish I had had your quick wit at the time - straight-laced engineers need that kind of poke too :). It turns out that AGM is much smaller and not so pretty either.
LOL!
like your comment, his, not so much.
He could have called me a lot worse...he outranked me by two jumps and snot-nosed little majors routinely get stepped on hard by infantry colonels.
In spite of your snarky but funny response, youhad the good sense to agree with him...Thanks for the laugh
Shay, I hope someday to meet you in person. But perhaps it would be best if we didn't KNOW we were who we were.
Post a Comment