AJC > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > August > 15
Monday, August 15, 2005
Dinner and a ‘No’ show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In an effort to provide our readers with more insight into the daily lives of soldiers of the 48th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, we have asked several soldiers to provide occasional blogs for us. Spc. Lauren Schreck, 21, of Brunswick, has been doing her own blog from Forward Operating Base Michael in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, since July. A student at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta in civilian life, Schreck is an Army fuel specialist. But she is currently overseeing the telephone and Internet center at the base. This is her first blog for ajc.com.
FOB Michael, Iraq — The signs were posted days ago announcing a comedy show here. The show was supposed to start at 1800 (6 p.m. civilian time) in the maintenance bay following a cookout. It was to feature four comics from comicsonduty.com - Dave Mishevitz, Sarah Tiana, Danny Bevins and John Bizzare. I was very excited. I thought there was no way that our tiny FOB would ever get to host one of those MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) shows that we always hear about. It was always the larger camps like Taji, Liberty and Striker that all the celebrities went to. But it was our turn this time, and I couldn’t wait for the show to begin.
The festivities kicked off around 1700 (5 p.m.) with a good, old-fashioned cookout. Having a cookout is how we celebrate everything in the South. There were steaks, hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans and lots and lots of cold beer (near beer, that is). Our cooks were grilling steaks on make-shift grills made out of wire and metal barrels sawed in half. They sure did the job, though. The chow line got pretty long for a while as people waited for the HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters Company) 1st SGT to serve the beans. It was a nice change of pace to have chow somewhere besides the mess hall. Everyone took their tray and just found a nice piece of curb or Humvee bumper to sit down on and eat. I walked over to the HHC building where they have plastic tables underneath a camouflage shade to eat with a few old friends.
After I finished dinner, I walked back over to the maintenance bay to discover that they were serving Baskin-Robbins ice cream!! The only ice cream that we have ever gotten is the Iraqi ice cream cups that have melted and been refrozen several times over. Needless to say, there was a constant line for the ice cream until they were left with one lonely tub of mint chocolate chip. I took my chocolate ice cream cone and went to sit in front of the tiny wooden stage to wait for the show. At around 1810, I started to wonder where the performers were and if the show was going to be late. One of the soldiers next to me informed that the show was not going on. The comedians’ flight had been cancelled. I should’ve known that would happen. Flights into FOB Michael are grounded every other day or so because of low visibility. The only choppers that fly those days are the medevacs and other priority flights. So, we made the best of it and put on a Chris Rock video. It was the same video I had seen a dozen times, but Chris Rock is funny no matter how many times you’ve heard the joke.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Categories: Lauren Schreck
