It some ways it is not the big things that throw the deployed environment into sharp contrast with home, it is the little things.
- Being able to brush one’s teeth with water from the tap
- Passing people on the street who are not wearing weapon harnesses
- Asphalt streets glittering like diamonds with ice coating rather than being coated with dust and sand
- Paths paved with bone stone rather than just covered with ankle twisting size rocks.
But again there are things the same:
- idiots on the S-Bahns who want four seats to themselves, just like everyone on the downrange buses, only without the excuse of wearing battlerattle.
- Drivers who manage to speed even in areas where it should not be possible.
- People working hard to get their jobs done and support others.
In the end, I think it comes down to how easy it is to get the job done and how much stress it creates on a daily basis. Changing environments, in and of itself is stressful.
On the other hand, Aviation DFAC can’t compare with a really good Thai dinner.
Now I have Paul Simon in my head, singing “Diamonds on the souls of her shoes.”
Bone stone? Wow. Way different from anything I’ve ever considered.
Ah – bone stone is interdigitated paving stones that look like dog bones. I forgot that it is a real European thing!