The Aerie
My greatest invention ever remains "Dad and Kid Day," where I have custody of one of my kids for the day, despite being married. I came up with Dad and Kid Day, which is a monthly event with each of my kids individually, after being struck by how hard divorced men on certain mailing lists worked to get every minute of their custody of their kids.
I was jealous - I wasn't even divorced, and I was going months at a time without spending whole days with my kids. So I instituted Dad and Kid days, and now every month I get to go out with each kid for an afternoon or evening.
Anyway, this time my daughter and I went out on Sunday. We saw "Last Holiday," a remake of the 1950's movie of the same name, with Queen Latifah as Georgia Byrd to Alec Guinness' George. It was a charming, banal, and perfectly harmless picture that I can easily recommend to anyone. Very sweet. Nice footage of the Czech Republic in wintertime, although I suspect it would have been prettier in the spring. And it included the toothsome Alicia Witt, which was a pleasant perq. She likes animals, did you know?.
Anyway, after the movie we decided to stop off at the Mall of America (MOA) so she could pick up some gloves that she wanted. As we entered our ears were assaulted by the screech of bad rock music. Looking down into the atrium, we saw five guys in Navy uniforms posturing on stage in a thin cloud of artificial smoke.
It was the U.S. Navy Recruitment Rock and Roll band.
As we circumnavigated the mega-mall insearch of my daughter's gloves, each of eight Mall atriums was occupied by recruiters of one or another branch of the military (except the Merchant Marine - they don't seem to have very good marketing, as evidenced by their apparent lack of a website in 2006).
I couldn't get over the Navy Rock and Rollers, though. How relevant is it to show that? How honest? I suspect the dozen guys involved in the band are the only twelve people in the Navy who will spend their enlistment playing bad rock music. Everbody else will be scrubbing toilets like my father did. It's one thing to recruit for the Marines by showing scenes of knights in armor slashing with swords - I doubt any recruits expect to be suited up in steel plate.
Across from the Navy Rock Band was an inflatable model of the Space Shuttle standing two stories high.
What is the point of these images? Does anyone join the Navy to play rock and roll? Has an ordinary noncom EVER become an astronaut? Scientists, officers, pilots and engineers yes, but a noncom? I suppose it's possible.
I guess I remember my father's descriptions of the navy - endless weeks scrubbing toilets or occupying the brig. The Navy never did managed to break my father to the yoke.
And finally, I'm not sure how effective the Navy Rock Band is supposed to be as a recruiting tool. My daughter glanced at them for a second and snorted, "They look like dorks."
I think it was the caps.
Posted by Albatross at January 31, 2006 10:55 AM | TrackBack