I stumbled across this old pic where uhm… Ok, I can’t remember what we were doing, or why. But I’m sure the language, instructing us what to do, was clear, even if our execution wasn’t. I just don’t know why…
PODCAST https://mattlr.com/ A long time ago, on a Saturday, we ended up in the tower cab of a tiny regional airport on the outskirts of town. Tiny enough that one young woman ran the entire tower alone. Approach, takeoff, landing,…
“Don’t diagnose yourself.” That’s what my colleague said, years ago, when I mentioned I suspected I had depression. I did seek help, much later, when I could. He folded his arms sanctimoniously and repeated himself, “You can’t just diagnose yourself.”…
His temples were a mass of bulging veins, merging with the deep furrows of his perennial frown. Corporal Rockjaw couldn’t break us. Platoon 4 prevailed. I was a conscript, choosing service over jail for non-compliance. Rockjaw was so tough, you…
I really just wanted a coffee that Friday evening, not a sermon. The sign read, “All welcome,” so I assumed I was part of “all” and entered. A conscript’s first three-day pass is sacred. That seemingly trivial reward marked the…
The language of conscription is glossed over with words like duty, service, honor, and sacrifice, but beneath the shine, it stinks of rotten bureaucracy, drafting people into the meat grinder. Politicians say, “the nation calls,” but never admit to coercion.…
“You will listen to your corporals. Their instructions will give you a better chance to survive.” I reckon the other rookies scoffed at those words, like I did. I was fresh out of university, and conscription had caught up with…
Promotions that feel like punishments. “Congratulations. You now get to drown with a better title.” Glen emerged from his military career as a Major. Nice dude. He was surprisingly “unmilitary” in bearing. We reminisced about trivial shared experiences like inedible…
Somewhere along the line, we decided that crying is for the weak, sadness is shameful, and vulnerability is a glitch. “Cowboys don’t cry,” they said. “Tigers don’t cry,” as if anyone’s ever asked a tiger. You know this cliched phrase:…
“Conquer your fears” is one of those fridge magnet motivationals that sounds deep until you’re actually in danger. There’s no universal scoreboard for fear, no gold star for pretending your nervous system didn’t just red-alert because something might kill you.…