[General] Ain't that a Kick in the Head
Dec. 22nd, 2005 07:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trooper6So much to think about.
First off, one of my internet pals,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raybear mentioned missing Rachel Maddow. I thought he was talking about a friend of his. Which I thought was funny because I knew a Rachel Maddow in high school and I wondered if it was the same person.
Turns out--he was talking about missing a radio talk show hosted by Rachel Maddow...apparently quite a famous person...and...yes, the same person I went to high school with. Isn't that crazy? Well, we always knew she would turn out to be big and famous, I suppose. She was our class valedictorian. In her speech, she mocked the people from the gross suburb of Castro Valley. I always respected her for that. I went and visited her at Stanford when I was on leave from the Army. Now she's a famous radio personality. Isn't that crazy? I wondered if she'd remember me?
Back to Germany.
So my Army boots were killing me. Really though. And I probably walked all over Berlin in them much longer than any sane person would...but I do have a high pain threshold, and old Army habits die hard. Anyway, finally I decided that I had enough. Yesterday, I bought a pair of shoes. My feet still have lingering hurt today. I threw my boots away. Can you believe that? Those were my basic issue boots. They were polished lovingly for years...polish filling in the scuffs in the toes I got from endless push ups in the rough South Carolina gravel pits of Ft. Jackson. I walked the 26 mile forced march we did near the end of basic in those boots. Marching in the rain singing cadence in those boots. I sat on a highly polished freshly waxed floor in my brown Army T-Shirt, my BDU bottoms, and green wool socks--me and countless other soldiers, countless times. All of us polishing our boots and comparing tips and tricks to getting the best polish: set your polish on fire for a few seconds then work the melted wax thick into your boots for your first coat. I remember the joy of that tip to wrap your fingers in plastic before you wrapped them in your polishing T-shirt...it saved you all the bother of polish under your nails for days and fingers stained black. Strip and re-dye the boots...use edge dressing. Mix beer with your polish...use a little rubbing alcohol. Put on a thick coat then run a lighter over the boots briefly. After you've polished with black, put a light coat of neutral on on top of that.
But for me, nothing really matches that moment...after you've already been putting coats of polish on your boots for months...when you are sitting on the floor of your barracks, cross-legged, in your boxers and a T-Shirt, with one of your boots sitting on your thigh and you are hunched over that boot, doing one extra of coat of polish. But this is the last special coat. You've already brushed shined and done your main polish with your polishing T-Shirt. This time you are putting all your attention on the interaction between the boots, the lid of your Kiwi tin filled with warm water and the cotton ball you are using to give the boots that final glass shine.
I was always very proud that I could get my basic issue boots parade shiny. Those boots didn't have the extra hard toe and heel like Jump boots. They had been completely worn in though marching in the rain for miles, they were scuffed and gouged. The leather wouldn't be the kind you could normally get a good shine on...but I could. I worked those boots so long...those boots almost glowed. And there was so much polish on those boots you had to be careful taking them off and putting them on...you'd get polish on your hands.
A remember all of us in Basic having to take our boots off before we walked onto the floor of our 50 Man Bay. We had also stripped, waxed and buffed the floor to a high level of gleaming polish and walking on the floor with our highly polished boots would ruin the floor with black scuff marks from all the shoe polish. Sometimes we'd put socks on over our boots when we wanted to walk on the floor to keep it perfect.
And the last tip? Always keep a bit of nylon stocking in your pocket. Nylon stocking would be the perfect thing to buff out any scuffs in your boots and get rid of any dust on your perfect boots right before formation...especially evening formation after a day of marching about.
We had all the tips. We worked so hard on our boots...but would we ever get our boots as shiny and gleaming as the boots our Drill Sergeants wore? They must have had some secret tips passed down only to Drill Sergeants.
The accoutrements of my kit: Old T-Shirt. Cotton Balls, Q-Tips, Nylon Stocking. Scrap of a plastic bag. Rubbing alcohol. Black Kiwi. Neutral Kiwi. Shoe Brush. Saddle Soap. Black Shoe Dye. Edge Dressing. Parade Gloss. All wrapped up in a black leather bag.
A still have the kit. Now I don't have my boots. They don't fit me anymore. Since starting T, my feet have grown at least a full shoe size...those boots don't fit and they cause me physical pain. They used to be my second skin. But I had to throw them away. In a trash can in front of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin.
Somehow that makes me profoundly sad.
I miss sitting on my floor, listening to music, spending at least an hour in the zen space of polishing my boots. I miss getting the approving nod from my commanding NCO for the gleam on my boots. The whole idea of spending an hour or two polishing my boots and listening to music seems so indulgent and decadent now.
And that too makes me profoundly sad.
First off, one of my internet pals,
raybear mentioned missing Rachel Maddow. I thought he was talking about a friend of his. Which I thought was funny because I knew a Rachel Maddow in high school and I wondered if it was the same person.Turns out--he was talking about missing a radio talk show hosted by Rachel Maddow...apparently quite a famous person...and...yes, the same person I went to high school with. Isn't that crazy? Well, we always knew she would turn out to be big and famous, I suppose. She was our class valedictorian. In her speech, she mocked the people from the gross suburb of Castro Valley. I always respected her for that. I went and visited her at Stanford when I was on leave from the Army. Now she's a famous radio personality. Isn't that crazy? I wondered if she'd remember me?
Back to Germany.
So my Army boots were killing me. Really though. And I probably walked all over Berlin in them much longer than any sane person would...but I do have a high pain threshold, and old Army habits die hard. Anyway, finally I decided that I had enough. Yesterday, I bought a pair of shoes. My feet still have lingering hurt today. I threw my boots away. Can you believe that? Those were my basic issue boots. They were polished lovingly for years...polish filling in the scuffs in the toes I got from endless push ups in the rough South Carolina gravel pits of Ft. Jackson. I walked the 26 mile forced march we did near the end of basic in those boots. Marching in the rain singing cadence in those boots. I sat on a highly polished freshly waxed floor in my brown Army T-Shirt, my BDU bottoms, and green wool socks--me and countless other soldiers, countless times. All of us polishing our boots and comparing tips and tricks to getting the best polish: set your polish on fire for a few seconds then work the melted wax thick into your boots for your first coat. I remember the joy of that tip to wrap your fingers in plastic before you wrapped them in your polishing T-shirt...it saved you all the bother of polish under your nails for days and fingers stained black. Strip and re-dye the boots...use edge dressing. Mix beer with your polish...use a little rubbing alcohol. Put on a thick coat then run a lighter over the boots briefly. After you've polished with black, put a light coat of neutral on on top of that.
But for me, nothing really matches that moment...after you've already been putting coats of polish on your boots for months...when you are sitting on the floor of your barracks, cross-legged, in your boxers and a T-Shirt, with one of your boots sitting on your thigh and you are hunched over that boot, doing one extra of coat of polish. But this is the last special coat. You've already brushed shined and done your main polish with your polishing T-Shirt. This time you are putting all your attention on the interaction between the boots, the lid of your Kiwi tin filled with warm water and the cotton ball you are using to give the boots that final glass shine.
I was always very proud that I could get my basic issue boots parade shiny. Those boots didn't have the extra hard toe and heel like Jump boots. They had been completely worn in though marching in the rain for miles, they were scuffed and gouged. The leather wouldn't be the kind you could normally get a good shine on...but I could. I worked those boots so long...those boots almost glowed. And there was so much polish on those boots you had to be careful taking them off and putting them on...you'd get polish on your hands.
A remember all of us in Basic having to take our boots off before we walked onto the floor of our 50 Man Bay. We had also stripped, waxed and buffed the floor to a high level of gleaming polish and walking on the floor with our highly polished boots would ruin the floor with black scuff marks from all the shoe polish. Sometimes we'd put socks on over our boots when we wanted to walk on the floor to keep it perfect.
And the last tip? Always keep a bit of nylon stocking in your pocket. Nylon stocking would be the perfect thing to buff out any scuffs in your boots and get rid of any dust on your perfect boots right before formation...especially evening formation after a day of marching about.
We had all the tips. We worked so hard on our boots...but would we ever get our boots as shiny and gleaming as the boots our Drill Sergeants wore? They must have had some secret tips passed down only to Drill Sergeants.
The accoutrements of my kit: Old T-Shirt. Cotton Balls, Q-Tips, Nylon Stocking. Scrap of a plastic bag. Rubbing alcohol. Black Kiwi. Neutral Kiwi. Shoe Brush. Saddle Soap. Black Shoe Dye. Edge Dressing. Parade Gloss. All wrapped up in a black leather bag.
A still have the kit. Now I don't have my boots. They don't fit me anymore. Since starting T, my feet have grown at least a full shoe size...those boots don't fit and they cause me physical pain. They used to be my second skin. But I had to throw them away. In a trash can in front of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin.
Somehow that makes me profoundly sad.
I miss sitting on my floor, listening to music, spending at least an hour in the zen space of polishing my boots. I miss getting the approving nod from my commanding NCO for the gleam on my boots. The whole idea of spending an hour or two polishing my boots and listening to music seems so indulgent and decadent now.
And that too makes me profoundly sad.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 07:26 pm (UTC)Why is Castro Valley gross? Because these are people who all get cars on their 16th birthdays and instead of doing something interesting with those cars like driving to Berkeley or San Francisco, they drive up and down Castro Valley Blvd on the weekends. There were so many of them who had never even been to San Francisco. It is creepy to see such an insulated provincial Stepford suburb just 45 mintues from such a world renowned city.
So yeah, you were right: rich, which and snooty...but also ignorant and provinical.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 08:07 pm (UTC)Let's go boot shopping together!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-23 04:31 am (UTC)mmmm polishing boots...
Date: 2005-12-23 06:54 am (UTC)http://www.bootbarn.com/itemview/men/bootsshoes/motorcycle/shortbikerstyles/2503/popular/All/All/All
I had to special order them cuz I have little feet and cuz I wanted them steel toe, which they make but don't carry in the store. Also I found that these run real narrow...either that or my feel are wide..?
Good luck finding a new pair worthy of your love and attention. Quality shoes are the best.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-23 11:56 pm (UTC)The boot fetishist in me sez: Should you ever decide to replace them, there's an Army-Navy shop on Venice that has the basic-issue Altimas for cheap, along with various kinds of jump boots (I'm a fan of Corcorans, myself). What brand does the Army actually use?