Clearing Quarters
I was reading my emails the other day when somebody posted that she was moving into a new apartment that the former occupants had left uncleaned. So she had to go over and clean the apartment before she moved in.....
That would have never happened if she were a military wife. I don't know if that's still in force or not, but when my mother was a young officer's wife -- sometime between 1938 and 1958 -- she would sweat bullets working on clearing quarters before we left for another assignment.
No cobwebs allowed in corners or window sills. Holes in the walls had to be filled in with putty and painted over. Most of the time, we didn't hang things on the walls, just because of that restriction.
Which might explain my current attitude about hanging things on the walls.....I love it when I move to a new house/apartment and I can put my stuff on new walls. Unlike some people I have known and lived with, I don't strategically plot exactly where to put the nail in the wall. One anal-retentive type I was married to for far too long insisted on measuring precisely from floor to ceiling, from one point in the wall to another, considering the studs behind the sheet rock before even considering tapping a small nail into the wall.
Now here's where my rebellion comes in: I eyeball the space and gleefully pound the nail into the sheet rock, mostly. So when I hang the picture, if it's heavy, it pulls the nail out and I'm left with a painting on the floor and a hole in the wall.
So what? I think. I can do anything I want in my own house.
After all, I'm not getting a Quarters Inspection.
Once a Brat, not always a brat when I want to rebel.....
Tags: Once a Brat, military brats, army brats
That would have never happened if she were a military wife. I don't know if that's still in force or not, but when my mother was a young officer's wife -- sometime between 1938 and 1958 -- she would sweat bullets working on clearing quarters before we left for another assignment.
No cobwebs allowed in corners or window sills. Holes in the walls had to be filled in with putty and painted over. Most of the time, we didn't hang things on the walls, just because of that restriction.
Which might explain my current attitude about hanging things on the walls.....I love it when I move to a new house/apartment and I can put my stuff on new walls. Unlike some people I have known and lived with, I don't strategically plot exactly where to put the nail in the wall. One anal-retentive type I was married to for far too long insisted on measuring precisely from floor to ceiling, from one point in the wall to another, considering the studs behind the sheet rock before even considering tapping a small nail into the wall.
Now here's where my rebellion comes in: I eyeball the space and gleefully pound the nail into the sheet rock, mostly. So when I hang the picture, if it's heavy, it pulls the nail out and I'm left with a painting on the floor and a hole in the wall.
So what? I think. I can do anything I want in my own house.
After all, I'm not getting a Quarters Inspection.
Once a Brat, not always a brat when I want to rebel.....
Tags: Once a Brat, military brats, army brats
Labels: cleaning, inspection, Military Quarters
posted by Marilyn Celeste Morris | 9:35 AM
3 Comments:
Marilyn,
As an RAF brat (a little post WW11), I was excited to see your post on pumpupyourbook. I look foreward to reading more. Dee
Marilyn,
when I was an Army brat, they still inspected quarters when you moved out, but they had a checklist what they looked for, and weren't very thorough. My mom would spend days cleaning the apartment, and after a quick once over we were cleared. Then, of course, our next quarters were never as clean, so my mom had to spend another week cleaning *those*. After a few moves she wised up, and got one of those cleaning crews to clean the apartment for her. They would advertises "Clean your quarters for $80; passing inspection guaranteed or else free second cleaning". I guess at that price (this was in the late 70's) it was a good deal.
Yes, cleaning as you move in and move out. After getting married and having my own house for 4 years, my sister remarked on it's crud build up. That's when I realized that I needed to schedule spring cleaning since I was no longer moving and depending on that September move to have clean quarters. Who knew?
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