30 April 2007: Gettin' Jiggy at the DFAC

Did the headline grab you today? Pull you into my world for a moment? Are you now waiting for me to tell stories of my funky, dancing exploits at the DFAC? Well that's not exactly what I was referring to but it's still a tale of humor. It's actually something that happens almost every day. I just happened to notice this time. Before I get to the headliner let me talk about the rest of the day.

First order of business was to take my colleagues from Kuwait back to the pax terminal. They had a 1000 flight, which required them to manifest at 0730. I stayed with them until around 0845 to make sure there was no deviation in the flight. Once I knew for certain they would fly on time I rushed to breakfast. Then I embarked on a routine day at the office. I'll be headed to Mosul soon for another mission. Until then it's simply routine in LSAA. By the time I finished my late afternoon workout I was numb from daydreaming. It was in this dream state that I went to supper. Everyone has had the feeling before - your mind is somewhere else, you look at things but stare through them, you hear things but don't necessarily comprehend. As I walked into the DFAC I was met with the same crappy music the TCNs are always playing. tonight it must've been best of Will Smith because the first line I here is "welcome to Miami." The main line offered a less than desirable selection so I headed to the short order. There was a long line so I stood with my tray, staring in a daze, waiting to get through the line. For whatever reason I started to notice what I was previously looking through. One of the TCN servers in the main line (which had no customers) was dancing. His gyrations snapped me back to the present. All at once Will Smith was "gettin' jiggy wit it" and I became aware that the TCN was very serious about his dance moves. He was going through an entire series of choreographed dance steps, hand gestures, and body movements. To see this guy with his sanitary gloves, DFAC cap, waiting to serve Joes, just dancing away was simply hilarious. I bust out in a grin - mesmerized. Nobody else even seemed to notice that the Philipino John Travolta was blistering the floor waiting to sling hash. Perhaps a day is only as routine as you make it. Seeing how no one else really cared it occurred to me that every day is different here. It's when you get numb to your surroundings that it seems like every day is the same. Dancing TCN made my day. He snapped me out of my funk, put a smile on my face, and brought me back to the present. After sitting down I started laughing. TCN's dancing made me think back to the old West Point days,my roommate Steve listening to Madonna and dancing in front of the mirror. He was from Brooklyn so dancing was natural to him of course.

Today is my mother's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! Don't worry folks, I didn't forget to call.