Sitting in a communal bathroom, three toilets, two showers, three sinks, toilet paper rolls made only to allow one rotation's worth of single ply paper... The condensation drips from the exposed pipes overhead. I can overhear a club rap song played from a cell phone in adjacent stall. Tomorrow at 5oclock am ill wake up to powdered eggs and milk, a game of chance on the age of a cup of coffee, and another 3 hour watch block. This is how my work day begins without fail. I'll labor or clean until lunch, tacos on Tuesday's, burgers on Wednesday, cold cut sandwiches on Friday's, where after I'll resume cleaning or moving objects from here to there until 4oclock. Then I'll once again rejoice in a meal. Billy Joel said "they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone" we'd all toast our plastic cups to that, were there anything suitable to toast with. Bill, I believe this is killing me. An hour elapses and once again I race to a second 3 hour watch cycle. The clock strikes 8:45pm and I'm free. Free to bathe, shave, and climb into my middle triple bunk in an aisle of 6, to rest my weary head, set an alarm for 5AM and repeat the process. This is the life in which we volunteered ourselves. Thank you for your servitude.
Written while at sea serving in the Navy