Security Blues

If there is one thing I need to get out of my “to be posted” box it’s the letters sent to Iraq.

That was a dark time in my life and I said so many idiotic things. Well, laugh at me why don’t you?

13^th July, 2007

Dear (soldier on deployment in Iraq),

I got your letter today, and I can’t tell you how much I regret not joining the army as a young man, and I can’t tell you how much I want to get done with school now. I hate everything about college at this point, but I want my degree and to move on with my life. (My evil sister) and his wife are now trying to do things with (my brother), meaning that they intend to do something about the Richard problem.

No typo here. My sister is very manly, and it has always been an inside joke that my brother-in-law is the wife of that marriage.

The same way the military should be moving is how I should be living my life. Move fast, hit hard, and get your ass out of there before they get a sight on you. That’s not how it’s happening I know, but if everyone wants to go killing each other in Iraq who are we to go stopping them? That’s the attitude I have to take with my family. Let them tare each other apart and get my ass out of here.

The plan at this point is to stage a few daring raids while building up a large force and then, when the moment is right, everything will charge. The night must become day and the day night. They will not know how to respond and be defeated. That is why I work on plays now, so that I will have a better chance of getting out of this shit faster.

As for your father, honestly, direct conflict is not the best action. If it were me in your shoes I would ask why he didn’t love me anymore. Seriously, why get angry and have him say, “That woman turned my son against me,” when you can make him feel like a shit? If you said “I don’t call you, because I don’t want to hear you tell me I’m as screw-up” or something of the nature it will change the way he looks at this.

You could also tell the truth, and say that (your wife) is helping you get your life back in order, which she is, and that he is standing in the way of that. In the end you could always say: “I thought you wanted me to be happy “. That would do the job.

Not that this is anything new with your family. They never understood how we could be such good friends. It’s like we are old army buddies, and I have never been in the army. In the end we must remember that life goes on no matter what may happen in the lives of men like us.   

In other news you would not believe what happen at work. One of the most junior officers got pissed off because he thought that I wasn’t doing enough work and started screaming at me. I told the company that he should be suspended because it’s obvious that I do the most work and that he is just lazy. They confirmed that I do the most work but refused to do anything about (the guard)'s actions. The next day at work one of the guards called me “wonder bread” it loud enough for me to hear. I promptly called (my supervisor) and left a voicemail about what happened, and now the other guards aren’t allowed to talk to me at all.

I was assigned to one of the out bound lanes, and I worked entirely alone. Only thing is that it’s less work for me to work one lane alone than to help other guards with two. I get more reading done now, and I’m far happier working this way.

I have no faith in the company’s ability to end this problem but my goal is not to find a comfortable place in security but to get out of security and move on to something better. That is why this is a change for the better. I’m unimpeded by the actions of the other officers.

Stay well my friend,

Richard Leland Neal