I found a kindred spirit of fashion! So, I'm at a party and this adorable girl walks in. Of course, the first thing I notice is what she's wearing. An amazing floral print wrap dress and high wedge sandals. Her feet are pedicured to perfection, and her short blonde hair is side swept and held in place with a flower detailed bobby pin.
This is a male dominated soiree, so I am thrilled to see another female with whom I can make intelligible conversation. (I can't talk football to save my life.) In true meeting-complete-strangers-at-wetdowns fashion, I ask "So, are you a Marine or a significant other?" My jaw drops as I hear the words, "Marine."
Yes. This petite, epitome of femininity is also a rifle-shooting, 100+lb bag toting, butt kicking officer in the United States Marine Corps. Her name is Katie, she is twenty four, and she is celebrating her one year wedding anniversary all by herself, while her husband (also a Marine) celebrates all by himself at NAS in Pensacola. How sad.
She met him at Embry Riddle, where they both attended, and she majored in aeronautics. They fell in love, eloped, and went their separate ways to their training assignments. One year later, they're still talking every day, and loving every bit of young married life, even at a distance. To mark the occasion, she took a trip to J.Crew, and found herself an anniversary present "from her hubby."
We talk shop for a bit, discuss the new Fall line at J.Crew, and she relates her experiences working retail at BCBG Max Azria, when I mention the words "Hunter Wellies," and the floodgates open up. It seems we have very similar In-Your-Dreams wishlists, and they mainly consist of clothing items far beyond our pay grades. There is a moment where we share a smile, she sighs, and says, "I'm so glad that I have found a fellow label whore. You can understand me when I explain how I almost s*** my pants at the sight of Balmain leopard print boots in my size for only $300." Yes, Katie. I understand. I understand why someone would put aside $100 every month just so you can buy yourself a pair of patent leather Christian Louboutins at the end of your training period.
I smile, and nod in appreciation, then the conversation does a dramatic 180 as she relates her humping trips from hell in the Quantico wilderness. No tents, no showers, no shaving, no toilets, no fun for 5 days straight. Just a weeklong of the mosquitos, the hornets, the ticks, the black widows, and your own filth. All while carrying a pack that weighs as much as you do. And when it rains, Katie says she feels like jumping off a cliff, just so that she might be injured enough to get sent back. And these delightful outings come around once every month.
I decide that I will never again complain about physical discomfort, until the day when I have to take care of my female issues in the woods, in the rain, with 120lb on my back, in front of the deer and all of nature.
Truly an anomaly. Katie has completely changed my conceptions of women in the Marines.
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