You Might Be a Service Brat if...

[Signalman150]

My sons are now 23 and 19 years old, and have both moved out into the real world.  We've come to the point in our relationship where we can talk about some of the things they experienced during their childhood.  As expected, there have been revelations for all of us.  Things like--now that they have their own places, complete with room mates--they understand why they each had to clean 3 rooms of the house on Saturdays, and mow lawns and shovel sidewalks etc.

And of course I'm getting some of my own back too.  I'm a service brat myself, but it wasn't until I started listening to my sons that I realized some of the more subtle nuances of what that means. 

I thought perhaps--in the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy and his "...you might be a Redneck" routine--it was time to list those things that make service brats unique.  I'll start off with a couple, and I'm expecting that parents and brats alike will contribute.

YOU MIGHT BE A SERVICE BRAT IF....

1.  ...you respond to tactical hand-signals in the shopping mall.
2.  ...you answer "wait one" when mom calls you for supper.

 

[from darkness lite]

You know what "double it up" means
You instantly respond to "STILL" instead of stop

FDL

 

[cavalryman]

You start stories about your childhood days by saying "I remember when we were posted to ....."
You compare postings with your sixth grade classmates
You play UN peacekeepers with your dad's old blue beret instead of cowboys & indians like "normal" kids

 

[211RadOp]

...you lived on more bases that are now closed than open.

...CB didn't mean Citizens Band Radio.

...you remember firing blanks during "Armed Forces Day".

...two years in one house was a long time to be in one place.

...you had pine cone fights in the old trenches in the Black Forest.

 

[Teflon]

Mom & Dad placed you on C&P instead of grounding you

 

[Reccesoldier]

If there was never any question what was or was not a tank

If you slept in a "bunk" and "straightened your quarters out"

Knew what a Canex was

 

[niner domestic]

Until you started school, you thought "mustard" meant doing an in/out routine again.

You thought Pusser was just as good as Santa at giving your dad/mom stuff.

You thought Pusser was a real person.  And was sadly disappointed when you learned it was right up there with the tooth fairy, easter bunny and Santa.

The only way to tell the family living room pics apart is to look closely at the colour of the couch/sofa.  (or whether your parent was in the pic)

You wondered if your parent was adopted because there are no photos of them from xmasses, birthdays and births of siblings.  They just kind of appeared one day. 

Dinner calls were alikened to the General Quarters pipe. 

You didn't have family chats, you had Mess meetings.

When you called dibs on a new bedroom, it was referred to as the forward mess bunk. 

You didn't have bathrooms, you had Heads. 

You didn't have floors, you had decks.

An appropriate response to a parental inquiry was, "Aye, Sir"

You were considered a very lucky kid by your peers during report card times, when CF parent wasn't home for the parent/teacher meetings. 

 

[Yrys]

You were considered a very lucky kid by your peers during report card times, when CF parent wasn't home for the parent/teacher meetings. 

 

[Inspir]

My dad who’s now retired always found it ridiculous how my brother and I could identify a persons rank, unit, and element just by having a quick glimpse at them when we were only 8 years old.

1.  ...you respond to tactical hand-signals in the shopping mall.

Hahaha, how very true  ;D

 

[Etienne]

Learned at a young age to "respect the timing" giving to you from your father or mother

Thing were said "once" only

At age 6 or plus your halloween "costumes" was and old olive drab cbt with plastic gun  >

Men were coming in your house every 4 years to repaint or change the wallpaper

It was actually the time were you fired; Blank .50 cal, blank c-6, dummy mortar 60mm, grenade. Thing that you do not do very often now that you are in the reg. force  :

Had rides in Leo 1, old M-113 and of course in the old 3/4 ton Chevy truck  

School was a pain sometimes cause you actually WENT to some places were other "civilian" children parents didn't have the luxury to go...and you brag about it  ;D

And of course ..... know that Europapark IS better then EuroDisney  >

 

[CdnArtyWife]

...in order to remember how old you were when you broke your (insert bone of choice here) you have to think of what post you live on first.

...you recall familial historical data according to postings rather than in years. (In Gagetown Johnny fell down the stairs, In Petawawa I broke my tailbone, when we were in Gagetown the second time I got a sister, etc)

...your mum tells you that you used to call anyone dressed in olive, "Daddy" regardless of thier sex, rank or cap badge.

...you were born in another country, to Canadian citizens serving abroad...and now the government is questioning your citizenship.

 

[PMedMoe]

.....the first aircraft you ever flew on was a Hercules......
.....and you know what a Voodoo is.....

 

[scoutfinch]

(1)  You thought every kid in the world could fly for free to Europe if they paid $5 for a boxed lunch.

(2)  You used to carry a signed leave pass from your parent and your passport with you on the off chance that there might be a 'good' flight leaving the local AMU with seats available for dependents.

(3)  You thought it was perfectly normal to fly to Germany for the weekend to visit family friends.

(4)  Your parents thought it was perfectly normal for you to fly to Germany for the weekend to visit family friends... especially if you picked up Ritter Sport bars for Mom and Lamy fountain pen refills for Dad.

 

[armyvern]

You're 38 years old and can still recite your dad's Social Insurance Number, rank and Unit (CFE circa 1978) off the top off your head in case you needed to evac from Europe to safe zone during school hours?

 

[Journeyman]

...you recall familial historical data according to postings rather than in years.

Absolutely!  ;D Son 1 got stitches in Gagetown. Son 2 got his first cast in Pet.

We got posted (as RegF guy with Res unit)...to a ~shudder~ civie community. Son came home saying (incredulously), "not just Jonny...but Jonny's DAD has always lived here!!."
They learned that civies don't move every 2 - 3 years!!

 

[scoutfinch]

You're 38 years old and can still recite your dad's Social Insurance Number, rank and Unit (CFE circa 1978) off the top off your head in case you needed to evac from Europe to safe zone during school hours?

Too funny.  I can still recite my ex-husband's SIN and remember being labelled as D/W *** *** *** Xxxxxxx.

 

[Signalman150]

Librarian,

I can go you one better...I can still recite my dad's RCAF service number, and he retired in 1966! Oh my gawd, where's my Carter's little liver pills and Geritol? :-\

 

[Reccesoldier]

Hometown?  What's a hometown?

You know what kind of base building it is by the shape of it.

You reflexively adopt the position of attention when yelled at.

 

[c1984ml]

When spelling over the phone, you use the phonetic alphabet, and have done so almost as long as you've known your abc's!

 

[formerarmybrat23]

- your parents dressed you up in in military gear and took pictures
- your dad called out marches to get you to hurry up (lets go! hup! two three four. Your left your right your left two three four)