A few days ago, I was out of the house, and the ombudsman for the ship called to check up on me to see how I was doing. In her message, she also mentioned that the ship was out. No, really?! Is THAT why my husband hasn't been home the last two weeks? I was wondering where he'd got to!
My goodness. Stupid people.
Speaking of stupid people... Navy wives just get on my NERVES! Yes, I am a Navy wife (and no, Caroline, I don't mean you). But I am not a stupid Navy wife.
You see, I actually know what ship my husband is on. I can even tell you what kind of ship it is, what his ship's function is, and even its hull number. I'm not sure of its class, however, but that's a minor detail.
I know what my husband does for a living. I know what his job is and how to describe it to other people. I know the full name of his rate as well, not just its acronym. Plus I know what base my husband is stationed to, although I don't really know how to get there or even what is on that base. It's on the other side, so I utilize the two bases on this side that are a lot closer to my house.
I don't expect all Navy wives to know all the above information. But they should at least know what ship their husband is on, and what his job is!! I've met several Navy wives when, if asked, don't know what their husbands' jobs are or their rank. How do you NOT know?! His rank is at least on your ID card!
I don't mean to be sexist since I know there are a lot of Navy husbands now too with the increase of women in the Navy. But I have a feeling that the husbands are much more on top of this kind of thing. I'm sure they would know what ship their wives are on and what their wives' jobs are!
I know I've mentioned this all before, but it just annoys the crap out of me. For all you civilian wives out there -- do you know where your husband works? Of course you do! You get to chatting with someone, and when they ask about your husband, you tell them, "Oh, he's an insurance adjuster for Joe Schmuckatelli's Insurance Co." Ask a Navy wife, and when pressed all she will admit to knowing is that her husband is in the Navy.
I have to admit that some of the blame rests in the sailor. I've heard lots of stories from Kurt about husbands who just don't tell their wives anything. Since Kurt tells me everything, this is something I just can't fathom. Plus it helps that I came from a military background, so there wasn't much for him to explain. Kurt's told me there are guys out there who are up for reassignment orders, and they'll come home from work one day and tell their wives that they're moving in six months to San Diego or Illinois or wherever without so much as discussing it with their wives first! Some wives don't even realize they have a choice on where to go. If Kurt ever did that to me, I'd bang his brains in and then make him be a geographic bachelor for his time at that duty station. Unless, of course, it's somewhere I WANT to go. :o)
My stepmom thinks we ought to move out of the country when Kurt gets a new ship. I am not so sure about that. I think Italy would be cool, since I've been there and I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't mind jaunting all over Europe. I don't think I would be too happy with Japan. Although I am fascinated by Japanese culture, I'm just not sure I would be happy living there full-time. Plus I don't have any grasp of the language, where I am sure I would pick Italian up pretty quickly.
But I don't know if I could move that far away in either direction. Being this far from my family now is getting on my nerves. If I can't even call them, how much worse would that be? But then, maybe I would have a larger support network. Now I'm somewhat isolated because Kurt and I chose to live on this side of the water and off-base as well. For us, it works. It's just hard when he leaves and I don't have many people who understand what I am going through.