The Kenyan

The summer and fall of 2006 was a dark time for me. Instead of going on a Navy cruise and seeing the world with the band, they sent me for 8 months to another base away from the band to stand guard duty as auxiliary security. I was fairly new to the band, fairly new to Virginia, single, and no friends to speak of (I was, at least then, a bit of an introvert). So my dreams of being a musician were put on hold for that time with no foreseeable future of playing trombone. I was a Navy cop. Suffice it to say, I was pretty bitter.

Standing gate duty for 13 hours can get pretty monotonous and depressing. Not much but your partner and your thoughts to keep you company for over half a day at a time. Of course, there's always the Navy training videos to boost the ol' morale, but there isn't much more motivation or growth within the job to speak of.

I remember the Admiral of that base driving through every so often, giving us a slight glance but never saying a word. Other officers as well were very cold in most cases (of course there are always exceptions). From these experiences, I made it up in my mind that the Navy really wasn't for me and that I would ride out my enlistment at the security forces, get out of the Navy, go back to Oregon, and never touch the trombone again. At this point in time I had something to look forward to. Something was in my future and was getting closer. All I had to do was wait.

One evening while I was on the gate, a man came walking up in casual clothing looking like a civilian. While I thought he would continue on without even looking at me, he actually turned into the gate and showed me an international officer badge signifying that he was of Kenyan origin. Naturally, I was a little flabbergasted, but I waved him on and expected him to continue with no further contact with me. But he didn't. He asked how I was doing, where I was from, and a lot of very friendly questions in a sincere manner. I conversed with him for a few minutes and he apologized profusely and stated that he had to cut our conversation short because he had an appointment to be at. We parted ways and I didn't think too much more of it except at how friendly a Kenyan officer could be while my own officers never gave me more than a passing glance.

Later on that evening, I noticed that same Kenyan walking towards me once more. He looked very happy to see me still standing at the gate and made haste to reach me. Once he engaged me, he asked how my time was since he'd seen me last (which was just a few hours prior). We spoke for a long time (probably about 30 minutes) about life and the weather, and just about every friendly thing two men could speak. I bid him good night, and we parted ways once more.

Over the course of the next few months, we spoke on a regular basis and became good friends. I looked forward to going to work just to be able to speak with my friend one more time. My friend the Kenyan officer. I was just a seaman in the U.S. Navy mind you. I was (and still am in my opinion) nobody. But this man understood my situation and went out of his way to befriend me. When he left to go back to his own country, he had a picture taken of me and him. He told me that he wanted to show his family back in Kenya his good friend. I was very important to him he told me, and he was very sad that he had to go, but would remember me always.

I never saw this man again, and I don't know if I ever will. But our friendship taught me a very important lesson. We are all in this human race together. It doesn't matter what rank I am, or what race I am, or what education I have. We all have struggles that we must trudge through, and without the support and friendship of others, we'll never make it. It doesn't matter how many morale boosters I'm fed; without the camaraderie of our fellow human beings, we'll never be motivated. This has changed my life. Its made me a bit more hard boiled as well. But I believe that I've become a better person.

I don't know how you'll take this story, but its inspired me to continue on with my job in the Navy up until present. I hope that you too can find a friend in your job and not just the job in it. Because without each other, we're lost.