The Armchair Outfitter

I was recently enjoying the buffet at a casino, as I am wont to do.  I was dining alone, and I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation at a nearby table.  Seated at this table were three men who may well have been three generations of one family.  They were discussing military service.

The youngest guy, who appeared to be in high school or a recent graduate, posed the question, “When you were in the military, what was your favorite weapon?”  The next-oldest fellow, who would have been the right age to have served in Vietnam, answered immediately, “A broom.”  The oldest gentleman, obviously a WWII or Korea vet, added, “We used a mop a lot too.”

They all had a good laugh, and the young man clarified by asking about the others’ favorite assault rifles.  A discussion of the relative merits of the M1 Garand, the M14, and the M16 ensued, but by that time I was absorbed in my prime rib.  I thought back to that conversation later, though, and what it says about the reality of military life compared to the perceptions of those like me who have never served.