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Howdy all,
So, every time someone else (friends, family, random on the bus) asks me what I do in the Navy, I have the darndest time giving them a short, concise description of what a MARS officer is. Now, obviously, the simplest way to describe a junior mars officer's job is "Bridge Watch Keeper", but as you can imagine, that wouldn't really help a civi to understand what we do; besides, we do a lot more than just brigde watch keep.
Ok, how about, "I drive the ship!"... nope that doesn't work, that give them the idea of me being the helmsmen...
"I have charge of the ship!"... again, still doesn't seem to get it across...
Actually, one of the best way of describing a BWK's job that I ever heard was this: "in the middle of the night, go out onto your back porch and stand there, staring off into the distance.... for 4 hours... while answering and responding to all of your family's cell phones at the same time..."
While that last one is kind of humorous, it still doesn't really give them an accurate appreciation for what a junior mars officer's job is.
So my question is, what ways have you current and past MARS officers gone about describing your job as a BWK in a SHORT, CONCISE, and ACCCURATE manner? I could describe all the various duties and responsibilities, the complex relationship between charge, control, and command, but most people lose interest after the first acronym or abbreviation accidentally slips out...
Cheers,
Lumber
So, every time someone else (friends, family, random on the bus) asks me what I do in the Navy, I have the darndest time giving them a short, concise description of what a MARS officer is. Now, obviously, the simplest way to describe a junior mars officer's job is "Bridge Watch Keeper", but as you can imagine, that wouldn't really help a civi to understand what we do; besides, we do a lot more than just brigde watch keep.
Ok, how about, "I drive the ship!"... nope that doesn't work, that give them the idea of me being the helmsmen...
"I have charge of the ship!"... again, still doesn't seem to get it across...
Actually, one of the best way of describing a BWK's job that I ever heard was this: "in the middle of the night, go out onto your back porch and stand there, staring off into the distance.... for 4 hours... while answering and responding to all of your family's cell phones at the same time..."
While that last one is kind of humorous, it still doesn't really give them an accurate appreciation for what a junior mars officer's job is.
So my question is, what ways have you current and past MARS officers gone about describing your job as a BWK in a SHORT, CONCISE, and ACCCURATE manner? I could describe all the various duties and responsibilities, the complex relationship between charge, control, and command, but most people lose interest after the first acronym or abbreviation accidentally slips out...
Cheers,
Lumber