The Job That's Put Before Us

December 20, 2007

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TTY31201.12.20

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My Professor used to always tell me 'We do the job that's put before us'. He was ex-military, fought in Vietnam. He was also my voice teacher, so we'd meet up for drinks after practice to just talk about things and now and then he'd tell me war stories. Nearly everyone thought he fell into old memories during those. I used to think the same, I felt sorry for the old man. During one of those nights, he drank a bit more than he usually did and began singing this old marching song.
Never would tell me what it was called, and never spoke of it again. The way he sang it, though.. well, you just knew he was singing it to the friends he'd never see again.

Now? I know what he meant. We do the job that's put before us. It may be difficult, it may be dirty, and it may not be something you especially want to do, but you do it. You do it because it needs to be done and you need to do it. You do it because if you don't, you can't proceed, you can't grow. And out here, when we're fighting aliens who ashed everyone we knew and loved, our very way of life? We do it, because otherwise we may not get a second chance. We're playing for keeps now, it's an all or nothing pot, and we have to win.

Mkoll asked me to teach him swordplay last week and our first lesson was today behind Foreas Base. I never was a good teacher, but I remember one of my old ones saying that all teaching was was being patient, working them through. I suppose that's all it is, really. Patience, understanding. There's a lesson in that, a lesson we can put to use out here. Don't rush, they'll still be there. Take your time, learn what you can. Knowledge is power, and what we learn today migh save our lives tomorrow. That was way off on a tangent. Mkoll's not half bad with a blade, once he figured out the proper footwork. I think he'll do well with it if he keeps the practice up.

I can't help but think about my old professor again, and the stories he'd tell me. The haunted look in his eyes, the pain that was always there. In war, they always list the number of casualties, rarely the number of survivors. When I was a kid reading through my history books, I used to wonder why. Why be so negative? Why not say 'this is how many people lived'? But, when I looked into Dr. Blake's eyes, I suddenly knew the answer. Maybe it's because there aren't any survivors. Maybe just because we walk away from the battlefield doesn't mean that we survived it. When I was in college, people like Dr. Blake were still fighting the war. I wonder if I'll ever stop fighting this one.

We do the job that's put before us.

— Sergeant Codie 'Claymore' Soahl