Free range Open Trackbacks! What a deal!

What to discuss? How about the t-shirt?

The postal clerk had some rock music magazine he kept in his post office, up in the forward passageway. Often, on my daily messing and berthing inspections, I’d pass by and stick my head in to check the current status of the stowage of the place, which could range from neat and nearly empty to packed pretty full of large orange mail bags waiting to leave or to be sorted.

I paged through said magazine one day and noticed an article about concert shirts, which included one that said “Attila the Hun – Middle East Tour.” I commented on how I liked that one, particularly (if you caught it last week) since I had been posting sayings from “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun” on my stateroom door during the cruise.

Very shortly before I was to leave the ship in Bharain and fly home, the PC3 handed me a folded up white t shirt. I unfolded it to see it was nicely hand lettered with “Attila the Hun Middle East Tour – Oct 89 – Mar 90.”

On the day I detached, the ship was also sailing to return to CONUS. I stood on the pier, watching my ship, my exclusive home for the last 5 months, single up, then take in all lines. As the 1MC passed the word “UNDERWAY! SHIFT COLORS!” I opened my shirt to reveal the “concert” shirt to the line handlers amidships, where the PC was.

For fear of the marker lettering running, that was the one time the shirt was worn, and only briefly. I changed out of it before I went to the airport and stowed it away for safe keeping.