MAIL BUOY WATCH
I can recall how strong the sense of homesickness was when I was stationed aboard ships during my time in the Navy. It’s difficult to explain the sense of isolation on board a ship, as one floats on the ocean with no land in sight. One feels totally cut off from the rest of the world; there is no morning paper, no radio to listen to, or no television providing information as to what the rest of the world is doing. Normally, this was the situation for several weeks at a time. So the general topic of conversation was what each one of us would do when we got home -there was a general climate of homesickness that affected everyone’s thoughts and feelings. Out of this sense of despair, has arisen a rather heartless prank that is played on new crew members who go to sea for the first time. This prank has become a tradition, a kind of rite of…
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