Di Mariano Grossi©
The black sheep, credit Mary Blindflowers©
Coming from a recruitment as a draftee, Jeff started loving military life and soon decided to carry on his experience becoming a Not Commissioned Officer. After a few years in a low profile career, his targets suggested him to try an internal examination in order to afford the hurdle testing his skills as an officer. He passed his exam, left his Unit and arrived at Colchester where the Officer Military School was located, and faced a six month basic course before being transferred to a new barrack with the rank as a Second Lieutenant.
There he experienced on his skin how hard living was beside his colleagues coming from the regular courses differently from him who was considered a parvenus, one of the low profile family, the so called “entered throughout the windows”; in the morning upon School’s walls he used to read acronym messages painted by the colours of hate and disrespect, for instance: NAOSH, that is Not Academy Officers Shit.
Coming from a subordinate position as a NCO Jeff was used to biting his tongue and handling humiliation and forbearance, but some colleagues of his, who had joint the Army not as a draftee, but starting directly from the rank as a Second Lieutenant, though without entering the Academy regular courses, could not bear easily those offenses and had more than an argument with their colleagues who were regular courses’ attenders.
The atmosphere became heavier and heavier and burst in the end of the course, the day before Christmas Eve when more than a colleague of his removed from their jackets the badges given by the Military School, deeply upset since their names did not appear in the pages of the calendar the staff had issued before interrupting the course.
Jean Albert Graves, the chief of staff, entered their classroom furious and yelled at the rebels: “Why do you not wear the School badge?” “We realized we do not belong to the School, Sir! Our names do not appear in the calendar the staff issued. It means that the staff consider only the regular ones as true members of this institute!”, that was the homogeneous and unanimous answer of Jeff’s rebel colleagues.
The chief of staff went on arguing with them, repeating that a true officer should never react following such kinds of complaints, their considerations were wrong since the School deemed them at the same level of the Academy Officers and he would make amends for that mishap as soon as possible issuing a new calendar with their names too, delivering it to the units where they would be about to be stationed.
The atmosphere looked to cool down as the protest seemed to have reached its goal; Jeff stood up, raised his hand and asked the chief of staff permission of wording. Once granted, Jeff put him a question: “Sorry, Sir, would you mind explaining us how you have got your firm belief that the entire School changed its mind towards our right to attend a regular course beside the Academy Officers? The placards and writings upon School’s walls show us a different feeling by them! Nobody has crossed them off so far!”
Jean Albert Graves remained speechless, invited Jeff to follow him into his room and punished him because of lack of politeness in front of a high rank Officer: his words had been judged very embarrassing by him since he had pronounced them in the classroom.
So Jeff learnt that in the Army a word can be often more dangerous than a deed.
All the facts narrated in this item, even though they could be likely in a barrack, are completely invented and fruit of his author’s imagination.
https://antichecuriosita.co.uk/destrutturalismo-e-contro-comune-buon-senso-punti-fermi/
