Today, I had some of my first small experiences of army life. However, this is probably still the first grade or even kindergarten. Firstly, because the discipline here at the base is not as strict as in the army, and secondly, everything here is quite modern and I have not seen any signs of the Soviet mentality. Unfortunately, they say that the Soviet mentality still exists in the army and, sadly, is quite prevalent.
My first experience can be summed up as follows: it’s better to work yourself, otherwise you’ll be forced to.
We have a very good and kind person at the base named Yelisey (name changed for security reasons). He takes care of this place and is responsible for the household. As I said, he is a good person. I liked him almost immediately as a person, and we became friends quite quickly.
At first, when Yelisey asked me to do something, he often repeated to me, “Sergey, just understand—this isn’t some kind of punishment. No one here wants to bother you. It’s just that this is our home. We all live here, and we have to take care of this place.” I immediately liked this ideology and it appealed to me.
I periodically took the initiative to do something around the house or help out. For example, yesterday I took the initiative to go and buy bread for everyone with my own money (they really feed us very well here, lots of meat. But bread is our responsibility). Then in the evening, I took the initiative to clean up the kitchen.
All of this gave me a pleasant feeling because I didn’t feel like a donkey loaded with hay and whipped forward with sticks. On the contrary, I felt like a master who cares for his home.
There was also an interesting experience with whitewashing the curbs. The curbs at the base needed to be whitewashed. I think it was Monday or Tuesday. It was already 5:00 p.m., and Elisha said that the curbs would need to be whitewashed in a few days. I told Elisha that I didn’t mind, but I really dislike the heat. And I said that it was convenient for me to work outside after 5:00 p.m. I asked Elisha if that was okay, but it was clear that he didn’t like the idea. He said that it was a bit like I was cutting corners and being sneaky. So he had already planned that I would whitewash the next day, and whitewash like everyone else — during the day :). I felt that in order to take the position of master and not end up in the position of a “donkey under the rods,” I needed to show initiative now. And I did. I insisted on starting to whitewash the curbs today. It was clear that Elisha was surprised to see that I wanted to start whitewashing the curbs at 5:30 p.m., but he was inspired by the fact that I was taking the initiative to work. That day, I worked until about 9:00 p.m., and when I finished, it was almost dark outside. Because of this, Elisha saw that I was not mowing, and in the following days he did not ask me to whitewash during the day, or suggested that I work in the shade. So, thanks to my initiative, I remained the master and did not become a donkey.
But this morning I had a different experience. Last night I went to bed a little late and woke up at 9:00 a.m. When I went outside, I saw the cook and some other people talking together. The cook was a pretty important person here. He didn’t like the fact that I woke up at 9:00 a.m. And he teased me, saying that I had been removed from my position as a clerk and made a stormtrooper. He added that clerks wake up at 7:00 a.m.
So, for the first time, I encountered one of the phenomena of the army — different people say different things to you at the same time. The thing is, when I first arrived at this base on Friday at 8:00 p.m. with my belongings, I asked Sergei (a guy who had been here for a long time and was sitting at the checkpoint) if there was a schedule and what time we woke up here. Sergei replied that this wasn’t the army yet, that there was no specific schedule, and that people wake up whenever they want. He only added that you shouldn’t sleep until lunchtime because that would be too much. Lunch here is at 1:00 p.m.
I was angry but didn’t say anything. Then the cook added that we needed to clean up the main road. After that, I sat for about an hour and a half with a girl who was an experienced clerk and told me some of the basics. After that, I went to clean up, or rather, sweep. It was almost 12:00 and the sun was already beating down. And in this sun, I swept leaves off the road. At that moment, I was a donkey. Yes, this situation pissed me off and infuriated me.
But over time, I calmed down. I understood that this was only the beginning. This was not yet the shovel in all its glory. These were just flowers. The real shovel was still ahead, and I needed to be ready for it.
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