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Show 0 Hillup Times Ma'Cti 6 2 0 03 Commentary Common courtesy important in military environment by Col. Seb Romano 75th Air Base Wing commander "Give me a juice box!" demanded the child. "I'm thirsty. I want a juice box." "How do you ask," said the child's mother, bending down to his level. "Can I have a juice box?" said the boy, not wanting to give in just yet. "No, that's not it," his mother said. The boy sighed, "Please, can I have a juice box, Mom." "Yes you may," said his mother, and finally handed the boy his precious juice. "Now what do you say?" "Thanks, I guess," said the boy. Unlike this child, my parents had me saying "Mr." and "Ms.," "please" and "thank you" and being respectful towards others. If I wasn't, my parents waited until we got home and "let me know." When I got to kindergarten, my manners were ahead of the other paste-eaterIn his book, "All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten," Robert Fulgham writes, "Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. ... Everything you need to know is there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation." All of these things are remarkably simple. As we grow older, I find that sometimes we stray from these principles. Especially those of you who ignored your mother, dozed off once too often in kindergarten or Sunday school and have a selective memory when it comes to how to Viewpoint if . J1 A The only difference between 'I need that report now!' and 'Give me a juice box!' is 20 or 30 years and s. treat others. that is "Treat others as you would like to be treated" the Golden Rule. It is the foundation of all common courtesies. When I say "common courtesies," I mean things like saying Look by Chaplain ( Lt. Reserve Chaplain amid the encircling gloom and I am far from home" This hymn, "Lead Kindly Light," begins by "Lead kindly light, The night is dark, describing the world our soldiers and we may a world find ourselves walking through full of the unknown and the unknown can be frightening and discouraging. I found a story to illustrate our need to keep moving ahead, even when the road is hard and the end unknown. Robert Alter in his book titled "The Transformative Power of Crisis," wrote about an experience he had while watching the Boston Marathon. A man in a wheelchair was pushing himself up a steep hill very slowly, inch by inch, his muscular arms glistening with sweat. As beads of sweat dripped off his face, his wheelchair moved slower and slower, up the hill until he stopped, exhausted, about half way up. The man lifted his head and looked up the hill, expressionless. Then gripping his wheels once again, he turned the chair sideways as if to get off the roadway and quit the race. But he didn't do that. He kept turning his wheelchair until it was pointing downhill, as if he planned to coast back down to the bot Hill some rank. Col. Seb 1 Q Romano V Col. Seb Romano "please" and "thank you," holding the door for someone, not interrupting people when they talk, not talking over people, stopping for people at the crosswalk even when there isn't a stop sign, slowing down to let people merge into your lane, and not pouting or being vengeful when not being Be on time. Acknowledge that other's don't way. your you get time is as important as yours. Admit when you're wrong. Don't treat people like they're stupid. pig-heade- d past the gloom Col.) Steven E. Titensor drive-throug- a . 4 a place he tom, where a fire station stood could receive rest and care. Then, he took a deep breath and carefully tightened his grip on the wheels and started backpushing himself up the hill again a of ward! Using different set muscles that still had some strength left in them. And he did conquer that long steep hill. "Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene," the hymn says at the end of the first verse, "One step enough for me." Abraham Lincoln gives us some words of encouragement about our task as soldiers in his Gettysburg Address. "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to from the great task remaining before these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion." Now for the end of the hymn, which I give as a blessing to us all individually as we look past the gloom, and steepness of the way, to the brighter hope of tomorrow. "So long thy power hath blessed me, sure it still will lead me on. Over moor and fen, over crag and torrent, till the night is gone. And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since and lost awhile. " us-th- The reason that they are called "common courtesies" is because they are supposed to be common, but more and more people don't show others the decency that they expect themselves. From the voice that comes through the speaker to the person who won't let you finat the ish a sentence, politeness is sometimes a thing of the past. It is sad when rude people become "normal." and someone being polite to us in line at the grocery store seems stranger than a dog sharing his steak with the rest of the neighborhood mutts. Unfortunately, rudeness is not confined to the grocery store. Sometimes it is also present in the military. The military is a culture built around order and structure and giving and taking orders. In an environment like this, it is very easy to get out of the practice of using common courtesies when we interact. But. it is in an environment like this that those practices are the most important. Respect makes the military system work, and giving respect is fundamental in gaining respect. The only difference between, "I need that report now!" and, "Give me a juice box!" is 20 or 30 years and some rank. It's no secret that if you are in a leadership position, your troops will respond better and respect you more if you are courteous. If you are of a lower rank and are rude to your peers, don't expect respect from them or those above you. Courtesy is free, but rudeness comes with a cost. Everyone deserves common courtesy. Even those you don't know. If you cut people off when you drive, yet get mad when people do the same to you, your child probably goes to his friend's house and wants to play with all their toys, yet doesn't offer any of his. Respect for others is taught early, but if somehow you missed the magic carpet ride to "Manners Land," it isn't too late to learn and teach. Call your mom. Thank her for the juice box. Let her know that she didn't waste her time on you and prove it. Family offers thanks f We would like to thank the men and women of the 388th Fighter Wing and the entire Hill community for your outpouring of support and sympathy during our recent loss. We could not have been better surrounded with a loving Air Force family to share in our grief and pain. The house visits, meals, notes, flowers, calls of condolences, prayers and support of the beautiful memorial and funeral services were nothing short of amazing. As we pick up and continue on, please know that your k&v comfort during our time of need was very much The family of Lt. Col. Dillon L. McFarland Sandy, Joshua and Ashley McFarland Lt. Col. Dillon McFarland street views 'Where will aviation be 100 years from now?' wwwMiaifBm eummiimiiwii wMi'Mii'Mi ' , !;" . Senior Airman Crew chief 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron '1 think a lot of it will go towards remote control. That way it's less risky they won't have to send people in to battle. It could save lives." , - TS Cap. Tyler Lewis Pilot 4th Fighter Squadron To think about what has happened in even the last 20 years I don't think we could even conceive of the advancement in technology that aviation will go through in the next 100 years." MJWhawwawpiij ilk y- A 1 Josh DeSorcy """X I'll - Diane Criddle Chris Bond Jim Thurell aircraft electrician Aircraft Division "I tell my children there will be flying cars, and we will land on sky scrapers after we like the fly to school or work Jetsons. We will need a lot more air traffic controllers 100 years in the future." aircraft electrician Aircraft Division "In the next 100 years, it will Tour guide, education and restoration Hill Aerospace Museum "In 100 years we will have space travel to other planets in our solar system and possibly to other systems beyond our own." F-1- 6 F-1-6 be space plane technology. These planes will reach attitudes that will allow them to use the rotation of the earth to reach their destination. NASA is spearheading this technology now to replace current Bill Love Restoration technician Hill Aerospace Museum "I think the future is in space because as far as the eartli is concerned, it has been done. We have the most advanced Air Force in the world. There isn't a need to go faster, so space is the next level." space shuttle programs." "Air Force people building the world's most respected Air rmcmun -- Quality Systems for America's Air Force Hilltop Times Published by Ogilen Publishing Corp., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract with Hill AFB. This commercial enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the and Space Force U.S. military services. 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