Terminal Lance #98 “Unexpected Guest”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: quite possibly the most absurd nuance of the Marine Corps is not being able to put your hands in your pockets–even when its bitter cold outside. I’ve heard the old tales and adages of Chesty Puller saying something along the lines of, “A Marine with cold hands and empty pockets is a fool”, or whathaveyou, but given some recent revelations of even the simplest things like the history of the term “devil dog”, I doubt many Marine legends to be true.

In any case, this really just comes down to one simple belief of mine: pockets exist on the uniform for a reason. If it’s cold outside, warm your hands. Furthermore, if anything the Marine Corps should encourage such an action, since cold hands could very well adversely affect the way a Marine performs his job.

Anyway, I consider the “hands in the pockets” thing to be a pretty standard issue gripe of the Lance Corporal. It always bothered me, how stupid it was.

On a random note, I’m currently watching Heartbreak Ridge on Netflix with Clint Eastwood as a hard-charging devil doggin’ Jarhead. All I can say is that this movie is completely ridiculous. If the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have accomplished anything in Hollywood, it’s the push for more realistic credibility within war/military films. With the exception of the recent GI Joe and The Hurt Locker, most films really make some genuine effort to be realistic–which is demanded by today’s audience littered with recent combat veterans.

Aside from that, I don’t have a whole lot to say, other than taking 6 classes this semester is pretty killer. Have a good weekend and I’ll see you next week!