Oh, how far we have come... 19 April 1989. I was a 29-year-old Naval officers wife. We had been in this townhouse a little over two years. I was working for McDonalds, and that day, we were *busy*. Lunch was insane. I remember being fed up and ready to tell someone to go get f**ked if they snapped at me one more time. I was a STAR by then - I handled birthday partys and promotions and such. That day, I was doing whatever needed doing to get through a rush. Grill, front, drive thru, runner... it was a miracle I hadnt exploded. Then, news started trickling in. *Bad* news. At first, it was that Something had happened on one of our ships. Something Awful. Then we were hearing that it was the Iowa. And to me, it seemed all of us who knew turned our eyes to one of our managers. Her husband was on Iowa. In that time, Navy wives (yes, wives - no women on combatants back then, very few male spouses to be found!) who worked together knew where each others husbands were stationed. We *knew* how bad this could turn out. But it would be hours, many many hours, before we would know anything concrete, if anyone was hurt, or had been killed, how many injuries, what the hell went wrong. Many of us would not know until she returned to Norfolk the magnitude of the disaster on the Iowa. I can still see our manager, in my minds eye, but I cannot remember her name. She chose to stay and work, remarking that it was useless to stay at home by the phone, watching CNN, and waiting. Best to be busy. I remember my focus shifting. Customer service remain forefront, but I was watching for anything that even smelled like a reporter walking in. We all became a little... protective isnt the exact word, but the closest I can find. We got through lunch, I got through my shift, and raced home. CNN was all I had. Alan wouldnt be coming home later with more word on what happened - he was overseas for the next eleven months (which would turn into another 12). He wouldnt be calling - phone rates were astronomical. Basically, all we had was CNN. And everything we knew was coming through that filter. I bring this up, and this anniversary, because I was just reading about the explosion in our paper over lunch. It hit me how well we managed to do with so little information available. No cell phones, no Skype, no internet, no email - NOTHING... we learned patience, we learned self-reliance, we learned confidence. Now, lets fast forward a few years. Pre-9/11, but close enough to it. My very first email from Alan from a ship was from Enterprise. His last ship. And I joined one of the chat boards for Enterprise, and was instantly appalled by how some of the spouses were behaving. They hadnt gotten an email in, like 4 hours, he doesnt love me anymore! I was speechless, and wondered how any of these little girls (I flat refuse to grant them the name women - they were all behaving like 12-year-olds!) would have handled the lives we had to lead when our husbands were deploying with so very little communication. What a difference a quarter of a century has made.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 17:04:42 +0000
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