<p>There’s a horrible thing during plebe summer called “grey space,” because on the plan of the day, any time without a specific activity is colored grey and that’s when the cadre can exercise a little creativity in what to do with you. It may take the form of learning to shine shoes, memorizing specs out of SHIPS AND AIRCRAFTS, rack races, uniform races, or simply standing next to the damn wall. The last one is the worst one. Sometimes it will be bearing contests (simply…standing. Without any expression. For forever. That’s the entire purpose of the exercise), or if you were in “Hell Hotel,” you might be at nose-knees-and-toes, which is the worst position known to man. As crazy as it is to believe, you WILL NOT have 60 seconds to yourself until personal time.</p>
<p>The upside? It gets better throughout the summer. By the end of the summer, there were times when the cadre might say, “All right, first squad needs to have whites ironed in twenty minutes. Go in that room and get it done,” and you will have a chance to actually speak to your classmates and sit on the desk…something that approaches normal.</p>