The Navy

The Navy

 

 

He was young and talented, handsome and outgoing, and he was on a plane all by himself headed for Japan. He did not know the indigenous language and he had no room in his luggage for a translator. Still, with his papers in hand and a pocket full of cash he was ready to become a Sailor.

He sat anxiously on the plane wondering what the Navy would be like, and wondering if he would think the native women were cute. He had so many questions and so many thoughts that there was no choice but to settle himself down with a few shots of whisky.

 

Several hours later it become clear that more whisky was needed. Flagging down the stewardess for the third time, he ordered a double shot and this time with no coke. As he slammed the gullet burning liquid down his throat, he felt peace for the first time since he had sat on the plane. Maybe he finally had numbed his senses and could get a few hours of rest in before landing.

 

He tried, but something was still plaguing him. What was it going to take to get his nerves under control?  It had to be more whisky. So he raised his hand high into the air and snapped at the lady standing three rows ahead of him adjusting some elder’s pillow.  She responded with a nod, and a moment later was bending over him with a look of concern asking him what else he needed.

 

Confidently he ordered a double shot, she hesitated for a moment but brought him his request. With out wasting too much time he slammed it down and this time, it was lights out, for real.

 

The next thing he remembers was the same lady tapping his shoulder and screaming at him to get up before she went and got security. Can you believe he passed out so cold that the stewardess could not even awaken him?

 

After several attempts he finally came to, dazed and confused and unsure where the heck he even was. “Your in Japan sir.” Oh yah, he thought, I joined the Navy and I was on my way to Japan, there was whisky, and I guess I am here.

 

He was the last one left on the plane and was abruptly escorted off and thrown into a country he knew nothing about. He was still a little drunk and now really confused. There where no directions on what to do, no one waiting to pick him up, and no signs written in English.

 

He stood there wondering how the hell he was going to get to the base, and for that matter where was it?

 

He looked around at he buzz of people scattering this way and that. Scanning the crowd he searched for another American, he thought that surly they would be able to help him. Hours later it became clear, that this airport was for the indigenous people only.

 

With no other hope, he approached a women and asked her if she spoke English, he was in luck, she did! She told him how to get to the base and even pointed him to the train he needed to be on. Finally, things looked like they where going to be okay.

 

He reached into his pocket to get some cash so he could buy a ticket, but his pockets where empty. He had spent every last dollar on the plane, buying whisky. He was lost, broke and starting to feel sick. Could it get any worse?

 

The woman who had helped him felt so sorry for him, that she gave him the money to get a ticket. He was finally on his way, and he did eventually make it the base.

 

Upon arrival he just could not believe that the Navy would ship him all the way to Japan with no directions and no one to pick him up.

 

My friend told me this story several times. It was always one of my favorites. My husband always enjoyed it as well, and after hearing it for the third time, something dawned on us.

 

Did the Navy really just ship him to Japan to fend for himself? Or perhaps there really was someone waiting for him. But who is going to wait for a half hour? His ride probably thought the whole plane was empty, grew tired of waiting and left.

 

Remember my friend was on the plane for at least twenty minutes after the last passenger got off. We had to be right. My friend simply did not make it off the plane in time, and his escort just left without him.

 

It was like the deer in the headlights look, when we brought this to my friend’s attention. Here all these years he had thought the Navy was crazy, when in fact he was just crazy.  I mean really can you imagine our military flying a guy out to Japan and dumping him off the plane in the middle of nowhere, with no money, no language skills and no directions.

 

I still laugh, that for ten some years my friend believed this was what happened to him. What a silly little freak, and what a lesson on what whisky can do to guy on a plane heading for Japan.