Hanging out at the pool is wonderful when you have absolutely no
responsibilities at all. And, since we were blessed with the best
excuse of all: the Japanese have all the jobs on base .. we took full advantage
of it. In the States, our parents might have been harranguing us
to flip burgers for the summer .. here, they had no excuse to sing that
tune. Idyllic indolence. Inert inactivity and idleness. Shiftless
and slothful. The summer sun, 45's from the States on the portable,
pop a Coke, fire up a butt and lay back. Heaven!
.
The NCO Pool was great, it's just I wasn't allowed there.
I was expected to go to the Officers' Pool. The military makes a
very big deal about where you spend your spare time on base and who you
socialize with. Officers & wives go out with other officers &
wives;
same with NCO's. They almost never mix socially. (Most) kids
are different. We want our friends to hang with us, so we would invite
kids of NCOs to the Officers' Pool, and there was never be a problem of
us bringing a guest. It might have been uncomfortable to those NCO's
kids if they told their dad they would be at the Officers' Pool all day.
Our parents were always concerned with rank, we weren't. Summertime
laziness was non-discriminatory as to your father's rank.
The photos from the O'Club Pool show everyone doing what came naturally: nothing. I see several mono-digital salutes here. To the Thought Police: this is a traditional Japanese gesture, used among peers, and takes the place of bowing in many young crowds. Try it on the next Japanese young person you meet.
