Wandering Wahls

I was enjoying some irony while watching the activities at Occupy Wall Street and seeing graying hippies wearing badges supporting Chairman Mao and chanting, “This is our Wall Street.” I had to wonder: do ya really think your public protest would go over well in China?

But it did get me to thinking about how different sides can have different definitions about common topics. In my Business Writing class I teach the theory of Stasis and how writers need to understand their readers’ “definition” of a concept before making an argument.

Using OWS as an example, Luke Johnson of the Financial Times offered some varying interpretations of common concepts among the anti-business protesters and, well, the rest of us:

Banks: institutions that take deposits and make loans; as opposed to casinos run by fat cats, who are engaged in privatizing profits and socializing losses.

Companies: corporate structures that carry out business undertakings; as opposed to inhuman vehicles that despoil the earth and merchandise unwanted products.

Shopping: browsing stores to buy consumer items; as opposed to an unhealthy activity fueled by materialism and false promises.”

You can find the article online, but it takes registration – if you search the author’s name on Google News, you’ll get a direct link bypassing the registration (funny how that works).

Frankly, I’m not totally against some of the OWS interpretations- “shopping” comes to mind. My worst experience on our RV trip was having to spend time at America’s largest shopping mall, the Mall of America.

Since I’m into free-range thinking though, this interpretation game led me to the issue of military retirement reform, which is rearing its ugly head again. Here is MOAA’s Steve Strobridge testifying before the HASC-Subcommittee on Military Personnel:

Here are some different interpretations I have come up with regarding how America sees a few military-related terms versus how the Defense Business Board and some policy wonks interpret the terms:

Military Member: Individual supporting his or her country in a job that has inherent, unique and dangerous personal and family sacrifices, who accepted the sacrifices based on attractive set of benefits; as opposed to an employee in a job no different than others getting more than they deserve.

Retired Military Member: Individual who formerly supported his or her country in a job with inherent, unique and dangerous personal and family sacrifices based on promised benefits; as opposed to a former employee thinking they are owed something (see “healthcare”).

Military Retirement Program: Employment benefit created and promised in order to attract and retain employees for a job that calls for personal sacrifice above and beyond typical employment environment; as opposed to, overly generous perk for an ordinary job with ordinary responsibilities no different than 9 to 5 workers. (Exception: high level executives such as those serving on advisory committees advising politician-types.)

MOAA: Professional association representing the interests of the military community as Congress inches closer to changing military pay, healthcare and benefits; as opposed to, pain in the neck.

It is interesting how events converge. First, we’ve got Occupy Wall Street making the news through their protests on Wall Street. Some of their ideas have merit, but I think they’re in the wrong location. I’d give them more credence if they occupied DC where administrations invite Wall Street execs to play active roles in lawmaking and elected officials on both sides are showered with their “donations.”

Speaking of showers, it seems a few of the OWS group could use one of these. However, their actions do represent a great aspect of our country – the right to protest and speak freely. Jon Huntsman made a great point in contrasting the protesters’ freedom to shout their demands for governmental reform (and more sleeping bags for cold nights) versus his time in China where these actions aren’t allowed. So while we have to put up with some loud protesters in need of some personal hygiene, we need to remember our founders wanted us to have this freedom of speech.

Second, while OWS is demonstrating one of the many rights our country offers, my daughter had to write an essay for school on “Are You Proud of Your Country?” I always enjoy students’ perspectives on our country and their perspectives on what our country offers (beyond hot dogs and amusement parks). So then, I thought I’d offer insight into why a 12 year-old is proud of her country:

Are You Proud of Your Country? By Anna Wahl

When asked, “Are you proud of your country?” I immediately say, “Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” I have never thought about why I say that, but now I know. It is because of the people, especially the ones I saw during 9-11, when my mother was in the Air Force, and at the United States Air Force Academy.

First, everyone who participated in 9-11 makes me proud. I have seen footage of the planes crashing into the twin towers, and then the towers collapsing. I saw and heard how lots of people died to save others. Firefighters especially put themselves in very dangerous situations to rescue others. This reminds me of a quote by President Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Those American citizens did a great service to us during 9-11. They were very brave. This makes me proud.

When my mom was in the Air Force, I also saw people who make me proud. My mother served for 22 years, and so did others. Lots of people served in the United States military many years. They want to help our country and our lives. This shows me that America is a wonderful place. The military bases help everyone; the people in there do anything for others; and it makes me realize that the people in out country are great, especially in the military.

The last reason I am proud of my country is by seeing the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA for short). It is a wonderful academy to go to, with a great education and program. Many students apply there. Lots of young adults want to go to USAFA to serve America. This alone makes me proud, that so many Americans want to have the honor of serving our great country. However, the Academy only takes a certain number of students. USAFA wants to ensure that our military consist of strong and smart officers. Cadets have to have great grades and be physically fit. The Academy is a great place that makes Americans ready for a military career helping our country.

That is why I am proud of my country. I am proud because of the people. All their actions are honorary. Now I know exactly why I don’t have to think about the answer to “are you proud of your country?” It’s just too easy.

This week, it seems I’m reading or listening to MOAA discuss military retirement almost everywhere. There’s The New York Times (via MSNBC); Fox News with Lou Dobbs; USA Today; and The Washington Post.

This dialogue is great for the issue and raising support for our troops and their benefits. (MOAA is calling people to battle stations as well!)

Interestingly enough, I’ve seen the controversy being discussed by everyday military members, too. Active duty members in my business writing class have spoken up with their disagreements over the proposed changes. Outside of the classroom, and near the bbq and beer, active duty and retired military friends have brought up the topic. Across the board, concerns are from a personal and family perspective (active duty members have based family decisions on the current promised system).

However, there is also a strong concern for the military being the best it can be. This sentiment is brought on by the worry that the proposed changes will make it hard to retain the best and the brightest among officers and enlisted. Vesting members after 10 years will take away the carrot keeping members in for 20 years because there will be no penalty for switching to a better paying employer.

I don’t know anyone with over 20 years of service who can say for sure that they would have stayed for the long run if they had been vested at 10 years. I think the D.C. policy wonks are missing the fact that there is a great demand for military members with 10-20 years of service based on their training and skills. And most of these positions offer a much greater salary and better working standards than the military.

The son-in-law of a good friend (he’s a veteran with tours in Iraq, his wife is a retired Air Force nurse by the way) wrote a really good piece for The New York Times on this issue – it’s worth reading.

Finally, to military members out there – what are your thoughts? Have you utilized MOAA to email your Senators or Representative?

We’ve got our first child in hgh skool – sorry, that wasn’t a misspelling; it’s just that I’m still getting used to the this. Let me try again slowly: h..i..g..h.. s..c..h..o..o..l – there, that wasn’t so hard.

Anyway, we didn’t even have time to get used to a U.S. middle school before Joe was ready to be a freshman. He started this year at a local Catholic high school, St. Mary’s. It is a small (and affordable) school that Joe asked us to consider for him. We liked what they told us (especially that last year’s 90 grads obtained $9,000,000 in scholarship and grants) as well as the small size (less than 400 kids). So, Joe is there.

Mary Claire and I have been really pleased with the decision. He enjoys the school, is jumping into the college prep curriculum, and is playing JV soccer. And, he’s ventured into extracurricular areas: the Forensics, Environmental, and Young Philanthropists clubs – along with the Mate Tea Club (“huh?” was my first reaction as well – mate is apparently a tea from Argentina) and the Lounge Chair Club (he tells us he has to practice a lot for the last club at home). In all, an obvious set of selections to obtain a well-rounded high school experience. Kind of like a liberal arts degree.

He also took the bold step of running for Freshman Vice President. On Election Day he came down with an allergic reaction and had to come home early. Either the mate tea gave him hives or he was going for the sympathy vote. In which case, the latter worked – he won!

Joe’s experience is fun to follow. I never joined any high school clubs or ran for student senate. I always hightailed it for home, possibly because it was an hour and a half ride on public buses from Seattle to Bellevue. And, my dad never mentioned to me that I should consider running for student senate. If he had, I probably would have checked the amount of gin I was putting in his martinis each evening.

While these activities are time consuming for us (and a lot of miles for the car), the experience is well worth it for Joe. He’s having fun and these activities do look good on college applications. And our daughter is getting excited for St. Mary’s.

But, you know what? I’m thinking that maybe our U.S. Senate needs to have a mate tea or lounge chair club – maybe they’d all work a bit better together. Can’t you just picture Obama, Reid, and Boehner sitting on lounge chairs, sipping a mate latte, and solving our debt situation?

Even though the kids’ schools started 2 weeks ago, Labor Day has this certain feeling of finality to the summer – it transcends the start of school as the official end of summer.

I don’t know where the time went. We had our family vacation, spending a week RVing around Grand Teton National Park.
We went through the summer camps – from an “everybody is a winner” touchy-feely track & field camp to a weeklong stay in the Tetons for scout camp (where an appropriate slogan would be “everybody is not going to shower for 7 days” – it was a long 9 hour ride back in the RV with two scouts).

Our oldest boy was introduced to high school sports via a soccer camp that all players were encouraged to attend. However, the camp turned into 2-a-days that left Joe exhausted and wondering what else high school had in store for him. He’s beginning to find out: homework. He was excited at first that he made advanced math and English, as well as biology. He also gets a lot of time to think about this honor each weekday night from 7 to 9.

Summer also saw the arrival of a new cell phone. Since Joe was entering high school and had after-school activities, we gave in and got him his own phone. We talked to him about its use and I am happy to report that the phone has not become a permanent part of his hand and that he actually forgets to take it with him sometimes.

I was worried that I would see him face down in the keyboard tapping away – not so much that he’d be diving into the bowels of popular culture but more so that he might have hacked his way into our USAA investment account and started day trading.

Finally, the summer started with a list of projects around the house; and, on Labor Day ended with a list of projects around the house.

Oh well, I never got around to those relaxing gin & tonics on the back deck either.

All that brings me to my observation about Labor Day – summer ended too soon.

Well, it’s taken me 3 years (wow, it’s already been 3 years since my AF retirement), but I have taken the plunge to use my Post 9/11 GI bill for education. I was a year too early to be able to transfer my benefits to my children, and although I already have my Master’s degree, I feel compelled not to let this benefit go to waste.  I thought about doing something completely different (my good friend who is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner used hers to go to chef school!) But after exploring other vocations and career fields, I realize how much I love nursing. So I enrolled in a Post Master’s Certification program to become an Adult Nurse Practitioner.  

 The process of applying for and using the GI bill was so much easier than I expected!  The only challenge was making the initial phone call to obtain more detailed answers than what I could find on the web site.  (You have to call the only VA phone number, go through the phone tree, and then wait on hold for an available assistant.) The 22-minute wait was worth it, and I spoke to a very knowledgeable person who answered all my questions, even finding me the contact person at my university.

 After completing only 1 form at the university, I was officially funded by the VA!  I did have to pay a small additional fee, because the VA has a cap per credit hour, which my school exceeded.  However, I cannot complain at all—I even got a stipend for my outrageously expensive books!  I highly recommend using your GI bill benefits if you haven’t already done so.  I’m off to go “back to school” shopping with my kids – and this time I get to include myself in the shopping!

Through our military travels, we’ve experienced some special “first” days of schools. Pre-school and Kindergarten were in Okinawa at a Japanese Montessori school (not only did Joe learn to eat and speak Japanese, but he got to wear the coolest uniform of a collared shirt and blue shorts).

In Germany, all 3 of our kids went through a “first” day in first grade at the German school in our village of Bann. This occasion was a lot of fun because the event is celebrated as a special occasion throughout Germany. Parents go to school with the kids and still follow the custom giving the child a “schultuete;” a custom that dates back to early 1800s. The “schultuete” is a large cone that is decorated and filled with surprises for the little first-grader, usually gummi bears, little toys, fruit, and some things for school.

(The custom was one of the reasons we put our youngest child Sam into first grade a year early, knowing that we were PSCing after the school year).

Today though, we had the next special “first” day, and our first real one in the states! Joe entered his freshman year of high school. This was a little different than the other “first” days. First, there was no special container filled with treats. Also gone were notebooks and such with pictures of things on them. And, Joe finally got to go to school with a cell phone (yes, we’re parental Luddites in that respect: 14 years old before he gets his first phone!).

However, the biggest impact was on Mary Claire: Joe politely declined her offer to walk him to his locker. It is high school after all.

Living overseas created an interesting perspective for us on US culture. First, being overseas removed us from two major cultural influences: we didn’t subscribe to U.S. cable TV offered through the base and I stopped following sports.

Second, it was always interesting to hear how foreigners observed our culture: from one of my Japanese students proudly reciting the Gettysburg Address, which he memorized on his own, to another student asking why there were no African-Americans on the U.S. Olympic Swim team.

Thus, I’m led to this week’s observation. Our local paper had an article about a school proposing that 3rd graders who couldn’t read by the end of 3rd grade be held back. At first, I thought: “duh!” Call me irresponsible, but I’ve tended to think that kids should be advanced for academic reasons, not social. But, who am I to talk, I still haven’t consented to our 14 year-old having a cell phone. So, I’m sure his social life is being adversely affected.

However, this idea of maybe holding back students contrasts starkly to our children’s experience attending German public schools. First, Kindergarten is separate from elementary school, so incoming 1st graders had to be interviewed by a counselor to see if they were ready (not in an academic sense since the German schools don’t start teaching reading and writing until 1st grade, nor based on age – some kids came to 1st grade early and some later). Luckily our kids had learned enough German through immersion in their Kindergarten class to slide through.

Next, in elementary school, teachers had no problem holding back students based on academics. Heck, the school would even move a student back a grade after the Christmas holiday. It seemed every year after Christmas one of our kids would have a story about a classmate not being in class anymore; they were back in the previous grade.

The local article also talked about the controversy among parents over the possibility that little Johnny might not move to 4th grade. Then I stumbled upon an article titled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” by Amy Chua.

Ms. Chua railed on western parenting submissiveness and U.S. parents’ over-worrying about their kids’ self-esteem. She talked of how her daughters were raised in the Chinese tradition: No play dates! No sleepovers! No grades less than an A! No being in school plays! (How did Jackie Chang ever get into acting then?) Talk about internalizing one’s repressive communist culture (even though she now lives in the U.S.).

So, while US parents are wondering whether to hold back a 3rd grader based on reading ability, there are parents probably thinking that their kids be held back if the grades were B or lower. I’m confused now – am I permissive or strict?

I’m stuck between cultures I guess.

Last Thursday was Veterans Day, and it was my first since retiring from the Air Force. When I was active duty, Veterans Day to me was a day to remember all those who served their country before me. I certainly enjoyed having the day off, and felt proud to honor all veterans. But this year was different—I was now the veteran who HAD served.

Our kids attend a fantastic charter school. The principal chose to keep the school open on Veterans Day, and had a ceremony to honor veterans. I almost did not attend—after all, my hair salon was offering FREE pedicures for veterans and I really wasn’t sure where my Class A uniform was! My daughter was very insistent, and so I attended.

The ceremony was incredible. The students obviously prepared for this for weeks. The choir sang patriotic songs, the students wrote us “thank you for serving” letters, and the band played a medley of the service songs. We were told to stand when we heard ours play. For a minute I got nervous thinking I would not recognize it, but there was no mistaking “Up we go into the Wild Blue Yonder”. So I stood, wearing my Class A uniform that to my surprise still fit, and I got teary eyed looking around at all the veterans and students. My own kids were singing along and looking proudly at their mom, the “Veteran”. It was a wonderful day, and I still made it in time for my free pedicure.

We’re getting used to summer life in the states. Joe went to a week-long Boy Scout Camp at 9,000 feet in the San Isabel Mountains; learning how to rock climb, track animals, accidentally cut someone with their own knife – all the things a boy should know. While he went to camp, Mary Claire drove with the other two children to Wilton, CA for a family reunion. Since my summer teaching doesn’t end until this week, that left me home alone with the puppies – and spending most of the time filling in holes along the fence line where they had dug out (luckily Joe hid his pellet rifle).

I picked Joe up over weekend and drove him to the airport so he could join everyone in California for the reunion and the Weird Al concert. I offered him PF Chang’s and James Bond movies on Netflix if he stayed, but Weird Al won out. A funny thing happened on the way from the Scout Camp to the airport though.

I was wearing my Assistant Scout Master uniform and we stopped at a rest stop – for stop and a rest. Well, I was walking to the car and a guy saluted me! I know medical marijuana has been approved in Colorado, but I didn’t know recipients were driving the highway. The Scouts don’t even salute me, or even listen to me for that matter.

The point of this entry though is that I gave Joe my cell phone for the trip, in case of flight delays and such. Additionally, MC had the GPS. It’s not that we use the cell phone often, or the GPS, but it was odd leaving the house and knowing I was out of communication with my family. Additionally, my ATM number is secretly scrambled in my phone, so I couldn’t get cash. Gosh, I just feel so eighties.