Don't Let the Bastards Get you Down

Let me share a short story before I pass along one of the great pearls of wisdom that has helped carry me through the tough times in my life. It was my first day in the Navy. As a recent college graduate, I knew I would be treated with respect and quite possibly admiration by any of the Marine Drill Instructors that I would meet upon my arrival at AOCS. After all I was destined to become an Officer and a Gentleman. As it happened, minutes after my entry into the "Indoc" battalion headquarters I found myself face down on the deck doing push ups until my arms felt as if they were on fire, rapidly turning to rubber. Meanwhile, Staff Sargeant Penn, Indoctrination Battalion Marine Drill Instructor, was screaming profanities at me reaching decibel levels I did not think could be reached by the voice of a human being. That was my first clue that Marine Drill Instructors were, indeed, not human at all.
As sweat was poring from a thousand pores on my body I got a call to come to the quarterdeck (main entrance) to answer a personal phone call. It was my brother, Warrant Officer M.E.G., US Army. He thought it would be nice to say hi. "How is it going?" he asked. I told him that they obviously were not aware of how important I was for they were beating the tar out of me on a minute by minute basis. He laughed. (This is where the pearl of wisdom comes in) He said "Tim, whatever you do, don't let the bastards get you down". That was it. Simple. Elegant. To the point.

I live by that pearl. I relay it today to all others for use as needed. Remember, no matter how tough things get in this magnificent time continuum that we call life, we should never, ever let the bastards get us down.