At Yale University, I was a Navel ROTC student. Before it got cold, we dressed in Blues and marched as a unit under the direction of a First Class Petty officer named Gordon. He was short but he had a very loud voice and we Cadets lined up and marched to his commands. The entire Core took a course my first year in military history. The thing I remember about the course was a guy named Clausewitz and the fact I got caught chewing gum in class. On the first day of class, the instructor stopped in mid-sentence and pointed to me up in the fourth row of seating. Up there, you are gum chewing. That is not allowed in my classroom! I am embarrassed and I gesture to remove the gum from my mouth and pretend to stick it under my seat. The rest of the hour, I keep my head down and take notes all the while with the gum immobile in my mouth. I don't really know if there was anyone else like me chewing but the point was made there will be no gum chewing in his class. I thought this was petty bullsh*t. Welcome to the Navy, Cadet.
