Never trust an angry person; they will turn on you the moment that you disagree with them or the moment that you do not go along with what they want you to do. This is true for anyone who has one iota of anger. Anger is a spirit, and it is wicked. You cannot control a spirit; it is the nature of Satan, it is evil.
When I was in basic training for the United States Air Force, I experienced this firsthand. In basic training, I was in a flight of about 50 women. In the military, especially in basic training the goal of the drill instructors was to break us down and then to build us up. We had classes where we had to learn military rules and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), so we had to study for written exams as well as take physical agility tests and learn military discipline and readiness in all aspects.
From sun-up to sun-down we were always on the go; we never had any idle time unless we were in line for chow or some tasks that we were doing. Even in idle time while in line waiting to get into whatever activity we were about to do or perform we always had to be productive. On day one, our Drill Training Instructors (TI) asked if anyone had a college degree. Of the ones who had college experience they picked the one who had the most college and make her our “teacher”. They said if we were ever in line or standing idle waiting for anything that she was to go up and down the line and drill us on our written exams; the UCMJ, or military history. They gave her a teacher’s book with the answers, and she was to ensure that we were studying even when idle or standing in line.
We all got along for the most part and our “teacher” was friendly and was friends with all of us. I am the type of person who has always gotten along with everyone anyway, so I never had a problem with people in groups like that. I am a kind person, but I am not what you call nice just for the sake of ‘getting along’. I believe in doing the right thing even if it hurts someone’s feelings.
One Saturday, it was our Flights turn for KP duty. KP is “Kitchen Patrol”. We had to help out the kitchen staff with washing dishes, scrubbing floors, pots and pans, putting away the clean dishes, etc. When we first arrived, we were each given a specific duty and I was put on Pots and Pans. The ‘teacher’ was selected to put away the clean dishes and she was given specific instructions where everything was to be placed. I remember wondering how she was going to reach some of the high shelves that some of the dishes had to be placed. I am 5 ft tall, so I was always assessing how high things were to make sure that I had what I needed in order to reach what I needed to reach. I was therefore glad to be on pots and pans because there was not an issue with reaching anything. We were told that if we worked well together and if everyone kept up with the pace and made good time that we might be able to have a break after lunch and before dinner started. They said that we would not have enough time between breakfast and lunch to take a break and that turned out to be true. But halfway through lunch cleanup it did look promising that we could actually take a break.
That was until our teacher became bored with putting away dishes and decided to walk around asking everyone to switch with her. Everyone said, “NO!” She took their answer and moved on to the next person. She came and asked me to switch with her and I told her that it would not be a good idea because we were all making good time and her job was not ideal for me because I would have trouble reaching a lot of the shelves and it would be time consuming to go and find a ladder. I felt it would put us behind and then we would not get a break. In the military, when one falls behind, we all fall behind; we work together as a team and win or fail as a team.
The ‘teacher’ became furious with me for rejecting her request to switch jobs. She would not accept my rejection of her request when she had accepted everyone else’s “NO” up to that point. She became angry with me and held a grudge against me for several days if not more. That night after lights out, I stayed up to write her a note to explain further why I rejected her offer and tried to make amends to her, but she refused to understand my point of view and stayed angry with me, so I dropped it and forgot about it. I did not remember it again until we got to tech school where she accused me of being a racist and reported me to our computer hardware instructor. Thankfully, he had an opportunity to get to know us and he told her, ‘Awe, she’s not a racist! Go sit down!” So, nothing came of her accusation there, but it did remind me of this instance in basic training when she became angry with me and refused to see the situation with common sense. I have not had any contact with her since tech school, but I do wish her well.
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