'Think about it' Thursday

Until today, I had never known just how beautiful a sun rise over the quiet farms in the mid west could be. On my drive to my besties house, the early hour allowed me to see such a sight. The flat farm land had just a handful of fog settled over the ground. The sun was just peeking out enough to illuminate the sky with a watercolor like back splash of pinks and oranges. I really wish I had my camera with me!

Now that I am up north and the kids have been given lunch, I found it to be a good time to blog! Bug is knocked out cold on the couch, Bubba is still fighting me on finishing his lunch even though all the other kids were done 30 minutes ago and my besties 3 babies are just watching a movie and relaxing in the AC. Kadence came with us too since we will be here over night, and she is staying right at my feet as if I'm going to leave her! I think she is paranoid about our trip to Cali, haha :)

On to the topic of the day! This may or may not be something that others would think much about, but its something that's been weighing on my mind since yesterday. First of all, I want to send out a HUGE congratulations to all the First Class Petty Officers who were selected to become the Navy's next to be inducted as a Chief Petty Officer! Official results came out yesterday, and I know there are a lot of excited and relieved Navy families out there. In the same breath, there are also a lot of those who are experiencing disappointment.

For those who aren't familiar with the process, the test for E7, or Chief, is only taken once a year in January. Those who are eligible and take the exam then have to wait until around April to know if they made board. If they DID make board, then they get a package of all their Naval achievements over the course of their career and it goes to the board. The board then reviews all the files and they select some of those 'board eligible' E-6's to advance to E-7, sometime in August. Then there is about 5 weeks or so of induction until they are actually pinned with the E-7 anchors. As you can tell, its a long and drawn out process.

Back to the point now... as with anyone who is the wife (or husband) of a newly selected CPO, there is tons of excitement. There should be! It is not only a nice pay grade bump, but its a big step in the career for the active duty member with new duties and responsibilities. On the flip side, for those who have waited 8 agonizing months for the results, just to be told that its 'not this time' is heart breaking, I would imagine. In NO way am I suggesting that those who's husbands made it this year, or previous years, should curb their excitement. Not at all! I know I probably wont when its my husbands time, lol.

That said, I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the behavior I am seeing from wives towards one another. There is NO reason I find is acceptable to 'make fun of' or 'rub in' the fact that another wife's husband was not selected. Never mind the fact that its just plain classless, trashy and childish. What the self-appointed 'superior' wives are missing is that no matter what their dislike may be for another wife, its her HUSBAND who did not move up in rank. There is nothing more disgusting to me than a military wife who wears her husbands rank. YES, we put up with a lot, but we aren't entitled to the honor they put on every time they put on their uniform. Since when do we route for the members of our military to be unsuccessful? The ones who are in the same Navy as your own husband?

My outtake is this. A lot of people made Chief. Some I know, and some I dont. There are just as many on the opposite side who were not selected even after making board. While I am elated for those who made it, my heart goes out to the ones who didnt, no matter what my personal opinion may be of their wife. Whats even worse is that this isnt a subject that came up because I overheard it in the commy or something. It was written on Facebook for mutual friends to see. Reguardless of if names were named or not, its petty. I have come to know what to expect from certain people in this place, but the comments I saw took me off guard.

How would a comment like this make you feel if you were one of the ones who's husbands did not get to advance, weather it was directed at you specifically or not? I understand that there are cliqs, and that people have disagreements and it results in an extreme dislike for one another. BELIEVE ME! I know, lol. I still cant figure out how this is acceptable to be said in a public place.

If I am totally wrong, please say so! Enlighten me to the ways in which this would be acceptable behavior of adult women.

-Mrs. J