Ft. McNair

I spent last week at a conference at Ft. McNair. It was a typical conference with lots of business card exchanges, ppt presentations and fake laughing, but there was one highlight...the dining facility of DFAC in military lingo. The food was, of course, terrible...but the atmosphere was unique!

Ft. McNair is one of few remaining military bases where their young enlisted personnel cook and serve the food. There were 4 or 5 Privates that fill your food requests as you walk down the line...high school style. They were all so tall, handsome and YOUNG. Seriously young...I sometimes forget that the people who serve our country are frequently younger than me. Anyway, they lined up in their uniforms with white aprons and little white hats and I felt like I should be in the middle of singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy or something.

My friend and co-worker, Bobbi, has a daughter who is away at basic training for the Air Force National Guard. She told one of the Privates that her daughter is also assigned to services and that she is serving meals too. The Private grinned and responded back, "Yeah, it's not always glamorous, but it's all a stepping stone to moving up." I liked his response...It sort of reminded me of how my grandparents thought of every job as an opportunity and never assumed they were "too good" to take any position. I spend a lot of time thinking about bonuses or promotions I "deserve", but the truth is that I have never had to work hard to do well at work...I've always had jobs that make it easy for me to succeed. Seeing these 18 and 19 year old guys serving food as part of their job, when I'm SURE they didn't join the Army to be cafeteria ladies, is a reminder of how lucky I am.

Even though I wasn't a fan of the food, I enjoyed all four of my lunches at Ft. McNair. Plus, in typical military fashion, lunch was less than $5. Sweet deal.