OK. Here is a quick story from my Army days. Wait, let me rephrase. From my reserve component days. I might bounce around a bit, so hopefully this will all come together and make sense. I joined the Army Reserves when I was 17. I have pretty much always been a small guy and it actually took me 2 tries to get in the Army. I didn't make it the first time because I was actually under-weight. I think I was given about 2 weeks to gain about 10-12 pounds and then come back to MEPs and try again. Second time, I made the weight minimum. I'm in the Army now!
Fast forward through basic training. I come home from Ft. Benning to my new home in Fountain NC. I went to basic training for infantry. Well guess what? There isn't a Reserve infantry unit within 50 miles. So I wound up getting assigned to a field artillery unit in Rocky Mount. So after hanging out with field artillery for a couple years, it turns out that my unit will be "deactivated" due to military downsizing. Clinton was president; enough said. So I was given the choice to change MOS (job) or switch to the National Guard and hopefully not have to re-train for a new MOS. It turns out that there was actually an infantry National Guard unit in Tarboro. So I went ahead and switched over to the Guards and back into the infantry.
Even though I have been in NC for a couple years, it was still a little challenging adjusting to a new unit. But during the time I was in Rocky Mount and Tarboro, I had noticed something - it really bothered people that I didn't talk. I was all the time asked, "you don't talk much, do you?" No, no I don't. When I was in Tarboro, I found out that this actually scares some folks. There were a few black guys that actually told me, "Williammee, you a scary white dude. You look like you could just kill somebody." What? Ok, whatever. I didn't think much about it. Then later when I was home, I realized that a little guy like me was able to intimidate some big black dudes. During my time in, nobody ever gave me a hard time or hassled me.
I was in this unit for about 6 years. We had a good deal of camaraderie. Of course, there were a few assholes (they were white guys, believe it or not). But somehow I managed to gain respect from the other guys that I supposedly scared the shit out of. The last few years while I was in the Guards I somehow managed to become a "cool white dude". All this, just from not talking.
1 comment:
Though I don't get it to the degree you do, people are always asking me when I'm "so quiet." I don't think I'm an overly non-talkative person, but even people close to me tell me I don't talk much and that I'm "weird" sometimes because I'm not overly talkative and they think I'm "mad at them" all the time or something.
Try working as the only white guy in an office full of black females and you'll hear the same things you got in the military. They all think I'm semi-insane and it looks like I might snap at any minute.
And yeah, I figured even before you said it that it was the white guys who were jerks. Every black guy I've ever come across likes my odd quietness.
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