I got Mike his HTC Evo 3D
for Father's Day (You can read my review here if you want to know more about it). It came out on Friday the 24th, so I went and picked it up at 8am. Mike had to run a kid out of town for an interview so he wasn't back until later that day. He stopped by the house and picked it up on his way back to work. Friday was also Mya's last day of Art Camp. They put on an exhibit at the camp in one of the galleries. The camp was hosted by that Art Museum so it was pretty neat. I asked Mike if he could get out of work early to come see the event. I was thrilled to find out that he could! He came home a little before 4pm and we ran over to see the exhibit.
The show was great and after it was done we got to collect all of Mya's work. She completed a 3D mural of a historical street downtown, a hand print painting, a corn husk doll, a sketch of her favorite part of camp, and one other painting. Overall she did really well and the show was very pleasant.
After the show we had to run some errands, one of which being to the Sprint Store. Mike found a problem with his new phone, so we had to take it back. On the way to the store he got a phone call from his Master Sergeant.
He had two applicants that went to MEPS the day before. One applicant needed further evaluation and he already expected that. The other applicant was a bit of a surprise. Now, when the kids meet with their Marine Corps Recruiter, they are suppose to disclose any medical, legal, emotional, or personal issues they've every had or still have. Everything is properly documented and disclosed to the MEPS. From there the Marine Corps decides if the person is qualified or not.
MEPS works to uncover any information that is not in the enlistment package. Occasionally an applicant will suddenly tell the MEPS liaison something that they did not tell the recruiter. This looks bad on the recruiter's part. When the applicants disclose the information it usually means they now require further documentation or a waiver. Sometimes the information will completely disqualify an applicant from ever joining the Marine Corps.
Well, the applicant that Mike had at MEPS told the Marine Corps liaison something that he did not tell his recruiter. Of course Mike's command is notified when this happens. So, getting back to my story, Mike's MSgt called him up to ask him what happened. That meant that Mike had to go back to the office to take care of the situation and talk to the kid.
To make a long story short, it seems that the applicant isn't even sure if he wants to be a Marine anymore. It would have been better if the applicant had been honest in the first place. Instead the Marine Corps Recruiting Station wasted time, manpower and other resources on the kid. I know it happens, but I hate when Mike gets yelled out for something that is beyond his control.
I know that's part of being in the Marine Corps, but it is also a blow to his self esteem. Mike was bummed out for the remainder of Friday. He even mentioned that he was terrible at his job. I tried to tell him that he wasn't terrible and things happen. You know, I have to be a cheerleader sometimes. I'm not sure if I made him feel better, but he did try to get out of his slump.
Mike did finally get his phone replaced. He stopped after his run this morning. He goes out with the applicants on Saturday mornings and runs with them. It usually only takes an hour and it's first thing in the morning, so I can't complain. I could go out and run with him, but I'm not that motivated. In any case, he went to the Sprint store and now he's loving his phone.
Today was definitely a better day. Not only did he get to spend the majority of the day with the family, but he had no phone calls today. I couldn't believe it. An entire day without a message or interruption. It was bliss! Tomorrow is Sunday and he has a kid shipping off to boot camp. That means he has to be at work at 9am to send him off along with the other Recruiters. It also means he'll miss out on church again this week.
He did mention that he might rotate Recruiters on Sundays. There would be two recruiters at the office and one would have the day off. This way each Recruiter would get at least one Sunday off every 3 weeks. Sometimes more than that because they don't have someone ship every Sunday. I think it's a terrific idea. I might have to mention it to him again and see what became of it.
Next week I'm hoping to have a moral day with the recruiters and their family. We were suppose to have one last month but one of the Marines had to attend class so it was postponed. With only 3 Marines working in the office it's hard to do anything when one is gone.
Well, here's hoping tomorrow is as good as today!
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