| On return back to Norfolk from a 6 month Med. cruise we had this SA that was kind of slow in the thinking department. The Boatswain's mate in charge of the Forward Sea Detail decided that as a joke he would give this guy the mail buoy watch. So he got this guy all dressed up in foul weather gear, hard hat, lifejacket, boat hook, grappling hook and a bunch of buckets. He told the guy that it was his sacred duty to snare, with either the boat hook or the grappling hook, the red, white and blue mail buoy as it came by the side of the ship. He put this poor guy out there when the sea and anchor detail was set and left him there almost till we tied up.
When it came time to get him Boats asked him where the mail was as the mail buoy had passed right by his post and he couldn't believe that he didn't see it. The guy almost had a heart attack and swore that he didn't take his eyes off the sea and that he didn't see any mail buoy. The guy was getting real upset that he screwed up on something so important. Finally the Boats let him off the hook and told him it was all a joke. You could see the relief in the guy's face as he realized his world had just returned to normal.
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