This story happened years ago, not too long after an incident where a gunman attacked people on a military base. The timing is important.

My husband worked on a military base. One day, he texted me that he’d probably be late getting home because the base was on lockdown. Several hours later, he texted me that lockdown was lifted and he was going to grab [Fast Food] on the way home. I was both relieved that he was okay and intrigued because this was something he generally only did after a day when he was just done with everything. Those days usually had a good story to go with them.

He got home not too much later than normal, and eventually, I got the story out of him. Since his building was closest to the front gate, the security guys basically hung out there most of the day, and he got the full story from one of the guys he was friendly with.

Like on all military bases, the gate guards take their jobs extremely seriously. They have a set of questions they ask every single vehicle that comes onto the base, including the large fuel delivery trucks. Unfortunately for everyone on the base that day, this fuel truck driver had a sense of humor.

Guard: “And are there any weapons in the vehicle?”

Fuel Truck Driver: “Well, this whole thing is a bomb!”

And that’s why the base was locked down for FOUR HOURS.

I am a network engineer hired by a company to be sent to different military bases and upgrade their networks to newer technology. One of the critical nodes I helped configure went offline, so I went with a couple of recruits to bring it back onto the network.

On our way back, we were walking into the building they work out of past the large propane tank the building uses for heat.

Me: “Hey, it smells like gas out here.”

Recruit #1: “I don’t smell anything.”

Me: “I can smell it coming from over here. Should we report it?”

Recruit #2: “Nah, it’ll be fine.”

Me: “I don’t know. It might be an issue.”

My comments landed on deaf ears as the recruits and their staff were eager to leave for the evening and begin their weekend.

The following Monday morning, I got a text from their chief engineer.

Chief: “Don’t bother coming in right now. There is a gas leak and our building is evacuated.”

I was given the all-clear to come in around noon, and I joined the staff back in their office to continue my work.

Me: *Pointing out the back door* “So, that tank out there was leaking?”

Sergeant: “Yep.”

I turn to the recruits from the previous Friday.

Me: “I did say I smelled gas when we were out there on Friday.”

Recruit #1: “Oh, yeah! You did say that!”

Recruit #2: “Yeah, [My Name] was telling us he smelled gas when we were back there.”

Sergeant: “Okay, the new rule is that we all have to obey [My Name]’s nose.”

I haven’t detected any gas leaks since then, but I am keeping an eye out… or, uh… a nose out.

My manager was a monster. He belittled people, made work a hostile environment, and denied anything that would make his employees happy while giving himself every comfort.

I had taken my bereavement leave after my mother’s death (he couldn’t deny that as it was a corporate mandate, even though he wanted to) but he found a way to get his revenge.

Me: “I need to take a half-day to go to my mother’s funeral.”

Manager: “Would it be a big deal if you couldn’t go?”

Me: “Uh… yes! It’s my mother’s funeral!”

Manager: “Well I can’t spare you. You shouldn’t have taken vacation time a few weeks ago, so now we’re too backed up.”

Me: “That wasn’t a vacation, that was bereavement leave! And I haven’t even told you what day I need yet.”

Manager: “Doesn’t matter. Request denied.”

I decided I would go anyway, and was able to find cover thanks to a supportive coworker. This did not go down well with my manager, however, and he wrote me up for it. I took this write-up to Corporate, and along with other complaints, they realized the entire office was about to revolt.

Corporate stepped in, and while he wasn’t fired like we wanted, he was demoted, which was satisfying.

In comes the new manager. He’s a very well-regarded, twenty-year Air Force veteran, a humble guy who knows how to handle people. We have our first awkward team meeting, with the old manager bitterly in attendance.

As the new manager is giving his “nice to meet you” speech, he sees the douchebag glaring around the table trying to intimidate people. He stops talking, pauses for a few seconds, and then says:

New Manager: “You know, when I was in the Air Force, I learned that if you take care of your people, they’ll take care of you.”

He then stared directly at the old manager:

New Manager: “And if you don’t take care of your people, they’ll take care of you.”

The new manager was awesome.

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I was in the army for five years. I was near an IED when it exploded and have some scars on my arms and legs.

A couple of years ago, we had a semi-big Fourth of July party in our neighborhood. It was hot out, and I had shorts and a tank top on. Some scars were visible, but most were fixed with surgery. The main one was on my arm, running from my shoulder to my elbow.

A kid walked up to me and looked at my arm.

Kid: “Why do you have that scar?”

Me: “I got hurt.”

He just walked away to his mom and dad. I was standing at the grill like any dad at a party, and the kid’s mother stormed over to me.

Mother: *Yelling* “What you told my son traumatized him!”

I was confused for a minute before she pointed at my arm.

Apparently, I was an awful person for doing this. The yelling attracted my wife and the woman’s husband. The husband was mad at me because I made his wife angry and whatnot. My wife tried to calm them down with me to no use.

Mother: *Still yelling* “You need to leave this party! You’re big and scary to the kids, and you’re threatening to me!”

Me: “I’m sorry for looking scary, but I’m not going to leave my own party. Your family is free to leave, though.”

We ended up just asking them to leave after a loud argument. The worst part is that I burned the burgers.

Before my parents met, my dad was in the army, and my mom was a civilian working at the same army base. Both were far from home. In my mom’s case, it was her first time living in an area with no family nearby.

My mom got involved in some of the women’s groups and other groups to get to know the community. One older woman in particular took my mom under her wing and repeatedly told her she wanted to introduce her to a lieutenant who worked under her husband. My mom was very open to meeting people, but the woman never really followed through.

Fast forward a bit. My parents met at a party on base, started dating, and got engaged a few months later. They had an engagement party.

At the engagement party, the woman who had wanted to set my mom up with that nice young lieutenant was there, and she came up to my mom.

Older Woman: “Congratulations on your engagement! I’m very happy for you. I’m just sorry I never got a chance to introduce you to that nice lieutenant; I really think you would have gotten along well. He’s here, though! I still want to introduce you.”

She flagged down the nice lieutenant.

Older Woman: “Here he is! [Lieutenant], I wanted to introduce you to [Mom].”

Mom: “Well, you were right that we’d get along well; this is my fiancé!”

The older woman was definitely right that they’d get along well! My parents have been married for forty-eight years.