mellian said:
Assuming I fit into that archetype you created of me.
It isn’t an
archetype, ours or yours, that matters,
Mellian, it is how you will adapt yourself and your worldview to “our” requirements.
You see, young lady, you are in for a long, long period of training and
formation before you are a useful member of
our team. Perhaps, while you are being
formed, Jungle will be your company sergeant major or MARS will be your CO – you would be damned lucky in either case, I know because I know both of them. During that
formation I expect that you, like many of us, will
learn about responsibility. (Most of us had to learn that in the CF; we were immature and irresponsible when we joined – I was, anyway.) I expect that you will change your mind about the
responsibilities that come with authority as soon as the latter is
awarded to you – that happened to me, too.
In short,
Mellian, while I
fear that Jungle is right and that you
may have a bit more trouble than most in “our” world I hope you give it a good try, and I hope you succeed. But the key thing is it’s not “your” world, it’s not the easy, comfortable, irresponsible civilian world to which you are accustomed. It is a highly, even
deadly responsible world where real
grownups, some just in their very early 20s, make life and death decisions in a split second – and live, responsibly, with
all the consequences of
all their actions and inactions. Welcome.