Of course the poem's not about the physical uniform. If it was, it'd be hella silly. ;)
The bit about Guy's uniform up there wasn't referring to the poem, either, though for the life of me I can't explain WTH my drug-addled and absolutely sleep-deprived brain really meant there. :cautious:
Guess we're just gonna have to agree to disagree about the chance of changing peoples' minds when it comes to this topic. I've found that those raging against the military the loudest are those who only do it because being a die-hard pacifist if The Thing To Do, and when someone is weak-minded enough to blindly take the safe, "trendy" route by following the pack, they won't be convinced by anything anybody could say. They also won't even allow themselves to be pulled into a discussion because they usually don't have arguments for their behavior or way of thinking. Why? Because they're part of a hivemind that won't be broken.
It's the quiet ones that might listen.
When you asked him to do something he sometimes parroted it back to you
Funny you should say that. I do that, always have, just like the others things your guy says. I don't know if that'd necessarily be military talk...I guess it's shared between all lines of work that require absolute precision. Our language offers a ton of different ways of saying the same thing, but often only one precise AND concise option. I absolutely can see why it might get annoying, though! In fact, I've been told to talk like a normal civvy should more than once, even by Guy. :giggle:
What I meant by "everything about him just oozes 'soldier'" was - you don't even have to really look at him, a quick glance is enough and you'll know he belongs in a uniform, even when he's lounging in a beach chair in shorts and flip-flops. Look closer and every bit of his training is right there in his eyes, but everything from his posture to his mannerisms right down to the way he walks into a room even when he DOESN'T scan the crowd just screams 'military'.
This job was his life. He's given everything for this country, his mental and physical health, his family, (almost) all his friends, his marriage - everything. With his intellectual abilities, he could've been anything, but he chose this because it was right for him, even knowing that it'd most likely kill him. They would've kept him on, even with his health-issues, but he chose to walk away now because he didn't want me to have to live my life like "that".
When I met him, I knew I'd always be his third love, after his son (#1) and the army (#2), and I was fine with that because that was where he belonged.
What I didn't expect was that the military interference in our relationship (time constraints, mostly) would bother him as much as it did. Leaving it all behind was a complete knee-jerk reaction, especially at a time when he had too much on his plate already.
When he gave up the uniform, he gave up both his heart and himself. After well over two decades of doing what he'd always felt he was born to do, he's got to find a whole new way for himself now, as the civilian he never really was. It'll take a long, long time, if ever it happens at all.
I hate that I played a role in this, and my docs probably want to smack me around the ears for the guilt I'm heaping onto myself about it, but...nothing to be done about that now, it's just the way I am, and there are bigger problems for them to tackle at this point.
I guess I should simply be glad (and I definitely am amazed) he doesn't absolutely resent me for being the reason he made the biggest mistake of his life.
