I Had This Ace in the Hole!

One afternoon I was at the post office on post and the line was very long.  It might have been upcoming to a holiday and everyone was trying to get packages home -- or it might have just been a busy day, I don't know.  I was standing in line just minding my own business.  As the line moved along I later noticed SSG W and his wife were at the window.  I had no thoughts about them other than it was someone that I recognized.  It wasn't like I made a determination not to speak to them or to ignore them.  I was really just standing in line.

So after they were done with their mailing they were about to leave and Mrs. W saw me.  Again, it wasn't like I was trying to ignore them or play that game, "I'll pretend I didn't see them and hope they just go away."  I had zero thoughts about them.  First of all, the line was so long and they were so far ahead of me it wasn't even like I could speak to them without losing my place in line.  If they had been near me in line or walked right by me I certianly would have said hello.  But such as it were, I wasn't going to go out of my way just to say hi.  And the tables turned, had I been the one at the front of the line, I would have had no thoughts or expectations as to whether or not they were going to come speak to me.

So I'm standing in line and I feel someone looking at me and I look over and Mrs. W is giving me her look of death.  She looked like a bull ready to storm the red cape --she practically had steam blowing from her nostrils.  SSG W had his hand on her arm and was trying to direct her towards the door.  He was saying something to her but we were far enough away I couldn't hear.

It did strike me as odd but I had no idea she was upset about something that happened right then.  At the post office, it was so common and not a big deal that I couldn't imagine she was upset over something that happened there.  I thought she was still mad from our first encounter at the office.  But I was glad they left and thought no more of it.

The next day SSG W said he needed to talk to me.  He went on to talk about the post office and asked, "How come you didn't speak to us?"  I asked what he meant and he said, "My wife said you were standing in line behind us the whole time and you nevber spoke and then when we were leaving you were trying to ignore us."  I felt like I was on the playground at recess.  This all seemed a bit immature for Army stuff ----

I told SSG W I meant no disrespect but they were too far ahead of me to speak and I really didn't even notice them until they got up to the window.  I felt foolish for having to explain myself but you know, he was my boss so I was trying to be nice.

SSG W went on to tell me, "Well, I out rank you and I'm your NCOIC and you need to respect me and when I'm out with my wife she's an extension of me and you need to show her proper respect too.  When you disrepect her that is insubordination.  My wife was very upset you were so rude to us and she wanted to come up to you and tell you so but I told her I'd just handle it at work.  I just want to let you know this time we can talk about it but if it happens again I'm going to write you up."

I was INFURIATED.  SSG W was clearing letting his positon go to his head and he was abusing his position.  His rank had nothing to do with his wife and not only was I NOT disrespectful to her, even if I had been this was not military business.  He could have talked to me on a personal level but certainly not in an official capacity.

And basically, that's what I told him.  I mean -- basically.  I didn't tell him he was abusing his position but I did have a thing or two to say about his wife.  And it went something like this ---

SSG W, I meant no disrespect towards you or your wife and if either of you feel slighted or offended I am sorry.  But the way things were at the post office, other than shouting across the room, the only way I could have spoken to you was to leave my place in line.  Your wife is a civilian and does not wear your rank on her collar.  I owe her no military respect.

As you can imagine, that did not go over well but SSG W just threw his weight around a bit, I ignored him and that was that.  I hardly ever saw Mrs. W so I didn't think it was going to be an issue and I always had my chain of command to refer to --there's always someone with more rank and authority to go to.  I wasn't too worried about it.

Besides, I had this ace in the hole --SSG W clearly knew he could not do his job.  He was good at strutting and pretending but the bottom line was, he needed me and the rest of the Crim Law staff.  But there was something else I knew that SSG W probably didn't want anyone else knowing . . . . .