Food for thought

So today was an interesting one. One that merited a post on this sleepy blog of mine. I know I should keep it up, so that I can maintain at least one creative outlet in my life. Seems like most of my hobbies nowadays are usually either 1. mindless mouse clicking in the pursuit of false achievements or 2. exercising (which, in retrospect, is probably just a "healthier" alternative to #1). Anywhoo, back to the interesting day. As a bit of an aside, I should mention that yesterday and many of the days before were pretty crappy but today, I think, is especially noteworthy because I heard a few interesting insights that I want to share with some of my military and non-military friends alike.

1. Met an older man today who said he spent some time in Hinesville. A place that he describes as "America's armpit". Pretty accurate, given that it's really effing humid there and the humidity just enhances the collective BO of the community. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of hanging out in Hinesville. Anyway, he went on to say that many of the locals around Hinesville don't like the military presence. Some are for economic reasons (he mentioned how the city once planned to sue the government for the base not finishing on the construction of a building, which would have created jobs for the local economy) but many are for social reasons (saying that many of the men don't like how the military servicemembers seem to come in and take many of the local women).

As I'm sure many know from history books and popular media, there's a lot of racism in the South that goes many ways. Between black and white and any other color for that matter.  But what doesn't really get talked about is the relationship between locals" and "military". There's a lot of countries throughout the world where locals don't like US military bases in their country. Here in Okinawa, many locals don't care for the US military presence because it feels like an invitation for wars and battles to take place here. I get it. It's understandable, especially given many of the unfortunate news reports of local girls getting abused and/or raped by servicemembers. But in Georgia??? When I was in Georgia, I cannot tell you how many times I've heard people say "Oh they're JUST Army wives, they don't know anything". Plus, many of the more desirable jobs preferred hiring locals instead of military spouses. DROVE ME NUTS! I had always attributed comments like that to some combination of sexism, ignorance, and just plain old jealousy. But after having my insecurity validated by a stranger pretty much made my day. VICTORY IS MINE!

2. The man then told a story about how he tried to help this seemingly 90+ year old local with her groceries by lifting her basked for her at the checkout line. Instead of thanking him, she grabbed her
basket and hit him with it! She then proceeded to scowl and growl at him (his words). After speaking with a manager, he found out that she was of the generation of Okinawans that did not care for American presence in Okinawa. His story echoed an accepted fact about Americans living in Okinawa, which is that there are 2 kinds of Okinawans: 1. those that embrace Americans and American culture and 2. those who lived through World War II and lived to despise Americans.

Later that day, I encountered another gentleman (considerably younger) who added a little bit more context to this accepted fact. MANY OF THESE OLDER OKINAWANS DISLIKE MAINLAND JAPANESE MORE THAN AMERICANS! Turns out, many of these Okinawans feel dismissed by the Japanese government because 1. Japanese war propaganda at the time demanded that people, instead of becoming prisoners of war, perform seppuku/harakiri (ritual suicide) 2. American soldiers treated Okinawan prisoners and civilians better than what war propaganda was suggesting and 3. upon losing the war, the Japanese "gave Okinawa away to the Americans".

I've been told that I look very Okinawan so I don't worry too much about encountering any 90 year old women wanting to throw down. But wow, HOLY BALLS, MAN!

On a related note, I'm really juiced to exploring some of the more historical places and festivals around here.