"yes mam"

September 30, 2010
2:20pm

This past weekend I went to Camp Whispering Oaks in Julian to facilitate the challenge course for the Camp Pendleton Service Unit. I always find it interesting to work at encampments with all military dependent campers. The dynamic between the girls and the leaders is different and the entire way the encampment is run is different. Usually the military service units are very well organized and everything is very structured. It is obvious that come from military families because of the way they dress and the way they speak and run activities. One particular incident I want to share is when I was with the girls at the challenge course. The most outspoken one in the troop who served as their sort of leader was goofing off over and over. I asked her repeatedly to pay attention but after asking her too many times, I stopped what I was doing, put on a straight face and a stern voice and told her that she needed to stop goofing around and take this seriously because it is a potentially dangerous place and I did not want anyone getting hurt. She immediately stopped, looked me in the eye and said "yes mam". I think the organization of families is interesting in this case. If I was at any other service unit, the girl would probably look down and say something along the lines of "sorry" or "ok" but because this particular girl comes from a military family, she knew that when an adult gets serious, they mean business and her way of acknowledging that was looking in my eyes and saying "yes mam". I think this is an interesting perspective on family background and organization and how it makes children react.