User:Balloonman/You Might Be a military Brat if:

You Know You're A Military Brat if You...

(if it's bold it means I know what it means if it's Italicized it means I've been there.)


 * actually liked clothes at the BX & didn't mind that 50 others were wearing the same thing.
 * liked going shopping with mom for an hour and a half drive because the BIG PX sold Canoe.
 * miss shopping at AAFES or the PX.
 * realize that the latest fashion in the states is not the same clothes you bought on base.
 * always wish you were back at the last place you were stationed even 20 years later.
 * answer the question "where are you from" with "I'm kinda from all over the place."
 * are able to imitate others' speech patterns or accents easily.
 * are amazed at people who have lived somewhere more than three years
 * are amazed at people who have who have never seen foreign currency.
 * are amazed at people who think Frankfurt is some kind of hotdog.
 * are asked "where did you learn to speak English so well".
 * are brought to tears by military music.
 * are 22 yrs. old & trying to find someone in the military to marry so you can get a new I.D. card.
 * avoid visiting the doctor because you don't trust civilian hospitals.
 * can ask for a beer in most European languages.
 * are familiar with old radio shows like "Chicken Man" and the "Whistler."
 * can bounce a quarter off your bed sheets and have hospital corners on your bed.
 * can identify ranks and duty station by the stickers on the car's bumper.
 * can recite all of the AFRTS commercials along with the television.
 * can remember getting a beer from a beer machine.
 * can still convert foreign currency in your head.
 * can't convince a stateside cousin that your Japanese kimono doll REALLY came from Japan.
 * can't drink Budweiser without being coerced.


 * conceal your father's rank, once people find out he has stars they'll never treat you the same.
 * craved to have a class six ration card.
 * didn't save things so you wouldn't go over the weight allowance of the next move.
 * didn't see a TV till you were almost a teenager.
 * don't feel quite right seeing military personnel younger than you.
 * don't really know how to answer the question "what is your home town".
 * don't remember the names of your childhood friends.
 * draw a quick map of the world to show someone where you last lived.
 * enjoy seeing guys in fatigues on city streets.
 * every room you've ever had was stark white and you couldn't put nail holes in the walls.
 * everyone complains about your name being the most scratched out in their address book.
 * feel like you should be visiting the states rather than living in them.
 * feel at home on a military base than in town even though you've been a civilian for 26 years.
 * feel more comfortable living near a military base and get bummed-out when a base gets closed.
 * find that you can easily amuse yourself for hours at airports, train or bus stations.
 * get nostalgic when seeing OD Green.
 * give someone a break because they are in the military.
 * go into culture shock upon returning to the states.
 * got dressed up and played pranks at Fasching.
 * got grounded or restricted to quarters or put on KP duty.
 * graduated from a high school you only attended for a year.
 * had a father who was always telling you to "police the area".'
 * had a pup tent in your yard until your parents found out what was going on in there.
 * had a supply of K-Rations that you traded with your friends.
 * had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in a mess hall
 * had your introductory speech prepared and memorized for your first day at a new school .
 * have a collection of bunch of beer caps from everywhere.(Coaster actually)
 * have a very best lifelong friend who you have known them for less than a few years.
 * have been asked just where in NY APO is.
 * have been hit on at the young age of 13 by men in uniform.
 * have to explain that being born in Germany does not make you German.
 * have forgotten how to speak more languages than most people ever learn.
 * haven't seen your best friend since the last time Dad was transferred.
 * hear the sound of freedom when military aircraft fly by while civilians complain about the noise.
 * inexplicably have the urge to move to a new place every year for no reason at all.
 * keep bumping into people all over the world that know friends that you haven't seen in years.
 * knew the rank and name of the kid next door's father before meeting the kid next door.
 * know how great it is to be able to return to base and your little slice of America.
 * know kilometers better than miles and Celsius better than Fahrenheit.
 * know that Radio Luxembourg was the number 1 way to keep up with the latest rock & roll hits.
 * know the words and tune to military march songs.
 * know what a jump tower is and after a few beers - thought it made good sense to climb one.
 * know what the "land of the round door knobs is".
 * left school frequently for bomb scares.
 * like institutional-style cooking and enjoyed going to the Mess Hall.
 * listened to Armed Forces and VOA radio for the 1st 10 years of your life.
 * made better grades in geography because you'd been to the places you were studying.
 * meet another military brat sometime somewhere and are instantly bonded.
 * most of you Scout camping equipment had US instead of BSA stamped on it.
 * most of your siblings were born in various foreign lands.
 * munched hot brotchen & gummies on the way to school.
 * never quite finished decorating your place because you knew you'd be moving soon.
 * notice Tom Cruise outside with no hat and having a non-regulation haircut in Top Gun.
 * painted a picture on the Berlin Wall before it fell.
 * panic when you can't find your ID card or passport.
 * put your hand over your heart at 5 p.m. knowing the flag was coming down somewhere.
 * refer to going back to the U.S. as going back to "the world."
 * remember following your favorite film as it made the rounds on the AAFES theater circuit.
 * remember being able to watch the Super Bowl or World Series live on TV at 2 am.
 * remember hanging out at the AYA.
 * start a major portion of your conversations with "when I was in �
 * stand up and recite the national anthem at the start of movies.
 * still do yard detail!
 * still look for you ID card after you've grown up.
 * stopped saying I used to live in Japan because people kept asking you if you spoke Chinese.
 * the term "combat loaded" refers to how the movers load the van.
 * think locals have such a limited perspective.
 * think of your childhood neighbors Fathers and Mothers by their rank.
 * think the US seems like a foreign country.
 * think you see old classmates on every corner, whether you are in Brussels, Bangkok, or Boise.
 * thought all doctors issued all-purpose capsules for every ache and pain.
 * thought all pens had "US Government" printed on them.
 * thought that a firing range made a great playground.
 * thought that the Quartermaster was the real Santa Claus.
 * thought vacations meant going stateside to visit the grandparents.
 * try to take out your ID card when you enter a grocery store.
 * use words like "hit the deck", "visit the head" and "pogey bait".
 * used the federal warnings on your I.D. card to convince your cousins you were a military agent.
 * waited every Saturday at noon for the alert sirens to go off.
 * went in to hysterics when your grandparents thought of selling their house.
 * went out and found everybody leaving on Maneuvers.
 * went to school in a converted POW camp.
 * were pleased to find upon returning stateside that the locals spoke American.
 * when after 20 years as a secretary you still think of yourself as a yeoman.
 * when battleship grey makes you feel warm and fuzzy.
 * when you first log-in to this www site and get the goose bumps.
 * woke up to F-4's zooming overhead.
 * wondered who your new best friend would be as you enroll in yet another school.
 * you're confused as your fianc�e describes watching trees grow large in the yard.
 * you can recite which aircraft were in service in which era.
 * you graduate from 12th grade and it's your 13th school .
 * you had your own punch card at the local Class VI store since you were 16
 * were in your late teens before you realized flashlight batteries came in any color but OD.
 * trying to remember when something happened in your family is invariably tied to remembering where it took place
 * Ignored th SP's warnings because your parents was "literally above them"