Day 206

This morning I realized that no matter what I think my motivation needs to be to get through this, it all boils down to this; the means do justify the end. I found myself repeating that for several minutes this morning on the way to work. I was on a shuttle bus, from which our driver decided to stop and talk to the driver of another bus. Never mind the fact we all are trying to get to work on time. Never mind the fact that the drivers are here to drive, not to visit. As the rest of us were suggesting that the driver end his conversation and return to his assigned route, a young soldier turned to me and started talking. Now, I'm not going to try to pull a Mark Twain and try to spell the words to give you an idea of the accent. I'm sure you've all heard the accent, or something like it. It wasn't exactly southern. It wasn't exactly illiterate. It wasn't exactly hillbilly. It didn't seem as though he took the short bus to school, back in the day. It was as if he was a quarter step off middle C, if you know what I mean. And he was missing more than one tooth, right in the front. His eyes weren't open all the way, and I think there was a thin line of drool leaking from the right side of his mouth. He spoke really slowly. He said, "People on this bus are getting angry. I'm not an angry person. Until I'm in my truck back home. People don't like to see me coming down the road. They get out of my way." (He then proceeded to speak truck and lost me for a minute.) And then he finished telling me about the paint job. I need out of here. (The means do justify the end; the means do justify the end). All of my bills are paid, I qualify for the new GI Bill, and I found the camper I want. Yes; the means do justify the end, at least this time.