Who knew what a marvelous sense of humor the military has? I learned about it at a “friend’s house last night after homemade sushi. Sushi chef Eric is a Major in the Marines, a helicopter pilot. He just returned a week ago from his second “tour” of Iraq. He presented us with a flag and a medal that he flew over the sands of despair. The medal is like a coin, and it has their squadron’s mascot on it. I was curious about the whole culture of these things, so Eric brought out a few of his embroidered (right there – that sounds out of phase now doesn’t t?) badges. Please note: he is not a collector, merely has collected some of during his service.

These things are hysterical! The Marines themselves design them and get them made, for no good reason or to celebrate the completion of something. The range is all over the place, from foul-mouthed quotes of Cartman and Snoopy, to emblems with multi-cultural icons included.

The point is, you laugh when you see someone wearing one of these velcro’d gems on their flight suit, or pulled out of a pocket and traded like Pokemon cards.

I took a picture of this one celebrating (commemorating?) a Power Point accomplishment. It’s (not) common knowledge that Power Point Pukes. I was glad to learn this badge was for comedy only; thank heaven they are not tracking the actual hours spent in PP sessions.

Now really. If these people who are trained to exercise incredible discipline and literally are in life and death situations on a regular basis can spend a little time coming up with funny/snarky/in your face comedy, then certainly we can stop for a moment and laugh at ourselves too. Laugh at each other, out of shared misery or understanding, not mean-spiritedness. In recognition that we may be fierce competitors, but hey – that is the game we are in.

Like a lot of preaching, this one is aimed mostly at me. I am a Capricorn, and let’s face it. we ain’t famous for our sense of humor!

This video is an Iraq war classic – a must see if you haven’t, and it’s one of the rare few I recommend for repeat viewing. It was made by British soldiers to the tune of ”(Is This The Way To) Amarillo”. Watch it and be prepared to laugh and weep.