Today the countdown begins. I've spent several hundred hours in the air since we arrived in Afghanistan. But in 30 days, God willing, for the first time in almost a year, I will get on an aircraft that is NOT going to land at Kandahar Airfield. To prepare you all for my inevitable return, and to make Emily's life easier for the next 30 days, please review the following list of comments, assembled by the wife of a deployed husband, which you should probably avoid saying to any woman who fits that description. Please forgive the hostile tone - Emily didn't write it.
1. “Aren’t you afraid that he’ll be killed?”
This one ranks in at number one on the “duh” list. Of course we’re afraid. We’re terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds — but thanks brilliant, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they’re scared of dying.
2. “I don’t know how you manage. I don’t think I could do it.”
This is intended to be a compliment. Though, its just a little annoying. Here’s why: it’s not like all of us military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day we’d get to be anxious single moms [of dogs] who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom and in the shower. We’re not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, we just got asked to take on a challenging job. So we rose to the challenge and found the strength to make sacrifices.
3. “At least he’s not in Iraq.”
This is the number one most annoying comment for those whose husbands are in Afghanistan. What do you think is happening in Afghanistan, an international game of golf? Guys are fighting and dying over there.
4. “Do you think he’ll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child [gross]/wedding/family reunion, etc?”
Don’t you watch the news? No! They don’t get to come home for any of these things unless you can squeeze Christmas into his 14 days at home in August. Please don’t ask again.
5. “What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he’s gone?”
Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there’s a military wife out there who gets bored when her husband leaves, but I have yet to meet her. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people. That keeps us plenty busy. We do get lonely, but we don’t get bored.
6. “How much longer does he have until he can get out?”
This one is annoying to many of us whether our husbands are deployed or not. Many of our husbands aren’t counting down the days until they “can” get out. Many of them keep signing back up again and again because they actually love what they do or they VOLUNTEER AGAIN and AGAIN to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan b/c there is work that needs to be done.
[Though I personally am counting the days until I can get out of the Army, I do love what I do, and I have been in much longer than my initial obligation to military since I enlisted more than 10 years ago, so the principle here still applies. - Jeff]
7. “This deployment shouldn’t be so bad, now that you’re used to it.”
Sure, we do learn coping skills and its true the more deployments you’ve gone through, the easier dealing with it becomes. And we figure out ways to make life go smoother while the guys are gone. But it never gets “easy” and the bullets and bombs don’t skip over our guys just because they’ve been there before. The worry never goes away.
8. “My husband had to go to Europe for business once for three weeks. I totally know what you’re going through.”
This one is similar to number two. Do not equate your husband’s three week trip to London/Omaha/Tokyo/etc. with a 12-18 month deployment to a war zone. Aside from the obvious time difference, nobody shot at your husband or tried to blow him up with an I.E.D., your husband could call home pretty much any time he wanted to, he flew comfortably on a commercial plane, slept between crisp white sheets and ate well, paying for everything with an expense account. There is no comparison. We do not feel bonded to you in the slightest because of this comment and, if anything, we probably resent you a bit for it. Comparing a 12 month combat deployment to a few weeks business trip is like comparing a crappy ford taurus with mercedes convertible.
9. “Wow you must miss him?”
This one also gets antoher big “duh”. Of course we miss our men. There are some wives who don't and they’re now divorced.
10. “Where is he exactly? Where is that?”
I don’t expect non-military folks to be able to find Anbar Province on a map, but they should know by now that it’s in Iraq. Likewise, know that Kabul and Kandahar are in Afghanistan. Know that Iran is a major threat to our country and that it is located between Afghanistan and Iraq. Our country has been at war in Afghanistan for nine years and at war in Iraq for seven years. These basic facts are not secrets, they’re on the news every night and in the papers every day — and on maps everywhere.
11. “Well, he signed up for it, so it’s his own fault whatever happens over there.
Yes, ignorant, he did sign up. Each and every day he protects your right to make stupid comments like that. He didn’t sign up and ask to be hit by anything, he signed up to protect his country. Oh, and by the way, he asked me to tell you that “You’re welcome.” He’s still fighting for your freedom.
12. “Don’t you miss sex! I couldn’t do it!”
Hmmm, no i don’t miss sex. i’m a robot. Seriously… military spouses learn quickly that our relationships must be founded on something greater than sex. We learn to appreciate the important things, like simply hearing their voices, seeing their faces, being able to have dinner together every night. And the hard truth is, most relationships probably couldn’t withstand 12 months of sex deprivation.
13. “Well in my opinion…..” [I love this one]
Stop right there. Yo, I didn’t ask for you your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a restaurant when I’m out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the President, esp. while we’re trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappy office microwaves.
Last, but not least...
14. “I’m so sorry!”
He’s doing his job and he’s tough. Don’t be sorry. Be appreciative and please take a moment out of your comfortable American lives to realize that our soldiers fight the wars abroad so those wars stay abroad. If you want to say anything, just say Thank You. After all, we are sexually deprived for your freedom.
