Still Not Homeless

The whole time I was in the Air Force, the joke I heard was "you're going to get out and be homeless." I doubt I was the only person to hear this, as the "homeless vet" joke circles the internet subcultures that know to laugh. The VA asks you on their check-in conversations if you sign up for those, if you're at risk of being homeless. I could each time confidently tell them no, because I had a wife who had a job, we had a roof over our heads, and we were comfortable.

I got out and relaxed for a bit, riding the terminal-leave-train, during this time I got bored, crushingly bored, mind-numbingly bored. I found new hobbies, most of them I couldn't afford, and kind of had fun with them as I adjusted to the retired life, making not enough each month from pension to cover my bills.

About 6 months to the day after I walked out of the PRIDE building on Minot Air Force Base, and drove out the gate with my middle finger to my rear-view mirror, I decided I need to get a job. So as a joke (in my own head) I went to McDonalds. They has a sign out front that said "now hiring, $17/hr" which was double what I'd made at any previous hourly job prior to the Air Force.

I really enjoyed the pace of it at the beginning, all the moving parts and different skills I'd never used before, and a new ladder to climb, as I started out toasting the McGriddle buns and managing an oven. I quickly learned what I needed to, and progressed to running multiple fryers, and grills by myself in about two weeks. Marveling at how efficiently the kitchen was designed, and interesting myself in how that "food" empire worked.

By that time, I still hadn't been paid, my whole body hurt from having to slightly hunch to the low surfaces, and not even being able to lean against a wall for hours at a time was wearing on my train wrecked body. Payday came and went and I didn't see a penny, I brought this up to my manager, who told me to talk to the other manager, and so on, until I'd spoken to all the bosses in the building.

I went home and told my wife about this and planned to pursue the issue again, letting what happened in that conversation dictate what I did next.

I sat in my van (yeah, actual panel van) and ran through how the conversation could go, adrenaline pumping due to never needing to have a conversation like this before, and nervousness at not knowing how to bring things like this up in a non-military setting. In the military, there are rules to how conversations with bosses go, as it's generally considered against AFI (Air Force Instruction), and therefore illegal to swear at subordinates, and vice versa. In my experience, swearing makes the enlisted military run smoothly.

When it was 3 minutes until time to clock in, I did so, and went straight to the manager, who was unfortunately the one I'd preferred working with, and brought up my grievance. She said I should bring it up to another manager, who came in later each morning. Reflecting back on that conversation, I realized that's what I'd wanted her to say, as I wanted to leave that ok job, which I felt embarrassed to work, and had the excuse of poor leadership to do so.

I replied that I wouldn't keep working for free, though I knew they'd eventually fix the problem. She realized at that point, I think, that she was going to lose me and offered some encouraging words, and tried to explain again the process of how paychecks work, which I was familiar with.

I told her if she or any other of the bosses weren't willing to fix it themselves, then I quit. I took my name tag off, put my apron away, and walked out.

I had $20 to my name and just quit my job. When I joined the Air Force, I had $17, so in my eleven years and change in the military, I'd made progress.