Why Oh Why?

Sometimes, after the “Are you out of your mind?” types of questions end, there is a call to explain the work that I’m doing here. However, in deference to those who ask, I do not believe that I have completely lost touch with reality. On that note, if the statement was, “you should have your head examined”, I’ve already got that covered, as a more serious bout of headaches suffered prior to deployment had my head deep into one of the local MRI machines. After confounding the technician/nurses with my ability to sleep through the noise, these expensive medical tests confirmed that my brain is right where it should be – so there.

Am I touched in the head? No doubt. You’d have to be to go to Baghdad these days.

So, in the words of loser Reform Party Vice Presidential Candidate Vice Admiral James Stockdale (Retired), “why am I here?”

Well, it’s complex.

Cash? Sure, there’s cash, but it’s really not enough by itself.

Adventure? That, too. It’s not enough on its own, but in the right combination with cash, we’re getting closer.

The opportunity to scribe these missives? Now, that puts me over the edge. You see, I can never make time to write at home, and there’s nothing like continual 12-14 hour days full of meetings and typing and meetings and typing to make a person rush right home and type some more.

Perhaps it’s the meetings? Nah. Three a day is my practical limit and I’m already over-meetinged by nearly a week.

Slack days at the home office? Sure, in part. This is work, and work buys food for the cats. Had I remained in Minneapolis this month, I would have likely been sent to another office anyway to keep me billable. In many respects, this place is no worse than Las Vegas and, in some respects, better. No worse in that both are deserts. Better in that,…. uh,… [Insert brain fart here. I knew I was going somewhere with this thought, I just got lost along the way. I’m sure, though, that there was something better here than in Las Vegas. I really am. Trust me on this one.]

Health, safety, and welfare of the public? Now we’re talking motivation! The reconstruction program for Iraq, if successful, stands to benefit over twenty-five million persons. It will provide clean water and sanitation, irrigation, education, transportation, incarceration, and electrification to most Iraqi nooks and crannies – services that most have never had before (except maybe the incarceration). It will allow the citizens of Iraq to stand on their own and determine their national identity and destiny. Plus, it will provide hundreds of millions of barrels of oil to deserving Americans. Hooah!

That’s plenty of reasons, no?

No?

How about the need to follow up on what once was an idealistic pursuit of human betterment, followed closely by the need to check up on what the media and administrative establishment has been telling us about this place for the past four years. How’s that for heartwarming cynicism?

It’s almost reason enough, but what really tips the scales is that international work is great fun. No doubt.

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Otto: That was intense!
Bud: The life of a Repo Man is always intense.

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