I've Got Sunshine....

on a cloudy day....

In Basic Training they have lots of GI parties.

It's a trick. There's no party. A GI party is what they call it when they make all the GI's get together and clean something. Scrub it senseless.

Good times.

I remember one time in particular while still in Basic Training, myself and another girl in my platoon (Majette) were instructed to go to our classroom (on the bottom floor of our building) and clean it.

We were grumbling and griping and grabbed some brooms and mops and went to our party. Majette is a really shy, unusually quiet girl. She's so silent during our cleaning I keep forgetting she's in the room with me!

I can't stand the silence and I've had this song kicking around my brain for days now so I start singing it...

I got sunshiiiiine, on a cloudy day.

I really belt that line out and in the silence of the echoy classroom Majette looks at me like I'm a crazy person.

when it's cold outside, I got the month of May.

Then a slow smile spreads across her face and she grabs her broom handle like a mike and we start to sing together....

I guess, you'd say what can make me feel this way? My guy, my guy, my guy!

We are singing like crazy, sweeping and dancing around the room like a coupla fools. We have our backs to the door and are doing the Temptations dance along with the song and when we hit the next my guy chorus, I swing around, then she swings around and we see our Captain standing in the doorway.

Whenever an officer enters the room, someone (technically the person with the highest rank) calls, "Atteeeeen-TION!" and everyone else is supposed to snap to attention and the person who called it salutes (with their right hand).

I knew we were busted for screwing around and the only thing I could think to do was let him know that we knew.

I snapped up my left hand and said, "Triple Ate Up, Sir!"

A popular military phrase is "Triple A O". It means..... I forget, Asomething, Asomething, Adapt and Overcome. "Ate Up" on the other hand means.... F'd up.

I could see the corners of his mouth twitching like he was trying not to laugh or smile and he told us to "carry on cleaning, soldiers" and walked down the hall.

We both breathed a sigh of relief then started giggling because we could hear him cracking up as he walked away.

Once again, my dorkiness saves my ass.

There's a lot of tedious jobs in the Army. A lot of them. I love to see soldiers who make it fun.

This video is a favorite of mine on youtube. I know I'm easily amused but this video cracks me up every time I watch it. Every. Time. I especially like the guy at the workbench on the right. He holds out just as long as he can but finally breaks down and joins in.

It's also very typical of the other soldiers (higher ranking or not) to walk around such shenanigans like they aren't happening.

Enjoy....


I do have sunshine on a cloudy day, Ruth!