Skirts and Heels

Prior to the Dining In our Instructors told the females to get together on what uniform we’d be wearing. We were told it didn’t matter; skirts, pants, heels, low-quarters but we all had to wear the same thing. We had a little meeting and decided a majority rule vote would determine the uniform. Skirts were easily agreed upon but the shoes were a different matter. Well, I say skirts were easily agreed upon which isn’t exactly accurate. Skirts were easily voted on –there were some opposers but hey, we protect and defend a democratic society so –skirts it was. And I wasn’t about to back down and do you know why? Because I had my fill of roommate drama and everyone kind of “forgetting” a female was present. I mean, I told you the major things that happened but it really was a daily moment by moment battle for equality and fairness and a lack of sexual harassment in the environment (Army wide true but especially my PLDC experience). And I was tired of looking like a “Shoeshine Boy” and I was you know –I was just kind of fed up. And that’s the attitude I took on when we moved onto the shoe discussion.

It was pretty evenly divided between the high heels and low-quarters but like I’ve mentioned before, low-quarters and skirts = gross. I wasn’t going there. A nice pencil skirt deserves a cute pair of heels. Listen, I’m no fashion forward expert but I know what I know and I know that it had to be heels. I was persistent and I won the battle. There was this one female soldier that wasn’t exactly feminine. Skirts just weren’t her thing and she left our little meeting very unhappy. She begged and pleaded with us but you know, she was one of my roommates that tried to rally against me so I wasn’t feeling the love. Revenge? I don’t know, maybe. I never said I was perfect. But if you will forgive me this time, I promise I make it up later. Stay tuned.

I wasn’t exactly used to these girly things –skirts, heels, make-up, and jewelry. During PLDC I never wore make-up and I can’t remember if it was just because I had to be up at the crack of dawn and running 2 miles by 6am, had very little “personal hygiene” time or if because it wasn’t allowed –at any rate, every day I’d throw my wet freshly showered hair into a clip, don my BDU”s (Battle Dress Uniform, like “Dressed for Battle” –need I say more?) and combat boots. What is cute about “battle” and “combat”? Exactly.

Sidebar: My duration in the Army the top of my feet and my ankles were bruised from wearing combat boots. Since they never ever went away, I thought it was permanent but they did eventually fade after I stopped wearing boots but it took a good year or so. It used to bother me a lot!!! It was probably partly because I laced them up too tightly but I was very particular about my uniform and my “military appearance”. BDU’s were easier than Class A’s because on BDU’s everything was sewn on so there was no guess work or having to pin things on. As much as I hated wearing them, they really were a “no brainer” type of uniform to wear. I wore my pants tucked into my boots and since I hated when they’d rise up and slip out, I used duck tape to secure my pants around my ankles before putting my boots on!

So with the skirt and heels uniform decided upon, I was very excited to get ready for the Dining In and sing! Sing I would!!!!!!