Things woud be one way for a year. Everyone would go by a specific baseline. Then one day - things changed and some person wouldn't get the memo. So they would do things how htey had been done for a year. Then they would get gaslit and told things were never done that way.

I started to question myself so I kept a notepad in my pocket. I'd write down dates and exactly how something happened. Then when it was re told a few months later, I'd refer to my notes knowing they were full of crap and I was right.

Someone would do some minor thing and everyone would act like they killed a man. Like a guy left a receipt under his matress one day. They took that as "gear adrift" and destroyed his rack. This guy was one of the only people who worked or followed the rules 99% of the time. And that is how they treated him.

he once hadn't eat in 36 hours and was about to get his chance, but his watch relief relieved him ten minutes late knowing hte galley was closing simply because they wanted to miss 10 minutes of their watch knowing the guy hadn't eaten. The guy gets mad and everyone tell him to quit crying and doesn't say one thing to the late relief. But they had eviscerated him over a fucking receipt under his matress.

We would have battle station drills. I was maybe 4 months away from getting out with my honorable. The pipe patching team was all brand new people with no leader. That had no idea what to do. But the chain of command would send them into drills by themselves. Totally setting them up for failure and if a real event happened they'd maybe die.

One day I get irritated because it is the end of battle stations and they are sending these guys in alone. The person running hte drill and testing them knew what was happening. There was never any equipment left at the end, and I felt their lives were worth something... So I take charge of the team for the drill and I take them in and htey are just doing abysmal and won't listen to anything I say and the person running the drill is just giving me shit like - "You're supposed to be leading these guys, where are your boots, where is your hat, why don't they know this." And I am just thinking, this is what I get for trying to do the right thing. That stuff wasn't as important as educating and preparing them.

One battle stations my team had finished their drill and it is near the end of battle stations. A second class comes in and says, "Eagle, get an air tank and follow them!" There were no air tanks because it was the end of the drill. There was also no boots or hats. I know it is going o take me a minute to find some so I ask the group and the second class - where are the ygoing so I know? No one would acknowledge I was speaking.

I find a tank, hat, and boots, and I walk through a fir barrier the directio nthe group went. A Chief and First class are standing there gabbing. I ask, "Am I supposed to be on air? Where am I supposed to go, what team am I helping so I know what to do?" They wouldn't acknowledge I was speaking. I try to get a response for maybe 3 minutes. So I go through another fire barrier and just can't find anyone nad have no clue.

Suddenyl the Chief and First class come through the barrier and th first class is yelling at me, "Why the fuck aren't you on air? Chief, this idiot isn't on air!" And I am looking at him like are you kidding me???? And I say something mildly snarky and he loses it, "What the fuck is this guy's problem?" And the Chief said, "Oh, e jst has an attitude problem." And I am just standing there like, yeah that's it. Not the fact that I asked you for three minutes if I neede to be on air and never got a response.

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People would try to enforce rules across the board like there was never any special cirumstances.

We'd paint te sides of the ship and we couldn't wear our gloves because they would stick together and get ruined. You couldn't work with the fingers all stuck together. Out hands would be numb and we'd be walking from the wuarterdeck to the berthing with our hands in our pockets wet and shivering live a dog. And someone would shout at us and tell us to, "Get our fucking hands out of our pockets." Because the rule was no walking with hand in in pockets.

I'd have watch as midnight, then go straight into sea and anchor, then wed have to clean everything up, dress the lones, bring in messenger lines, etc. I'd be walking through the hangar bay at half past noon with some stubble on my face. Some Chief would stop me and just yel at me for 15 minutes because I had stubble, "When was the last time you shaved?" And I'd tell them, when I got up this moninging - and before I could say I got up at midnight they'd just lay into me on how the rules state I have to shave everyday and blah blah. And I am just thinking, are we done - I have a mountain of work to do and if I'm lucky we'll get an hour of liberty before curfew - was I really supposed to excuse myself from mooring the ship to go and shave?...

We stood bridge watch and lookout watches. I got off watch at 3am one morning and I step into the hangar bay piss tired with my hat on. Underway you don't wear a cover except for on the bridge. It's 3 am. Me and one other guy were theonly person in all three hangar bays. This guy is pointing at his head frantically like someone is going to die because I have my cover on at 3am on my way to my berthing where I'll get 3 hours of sleep. And i am thinking, like why is this guy so concerned - is this really his biggest worry in life?...

It boiled down to no one having any empathy or thinking into things. No one stopped and thought - these people are barely sleeping, barely eating, getting abused physically and mentally... Maybe I should cut them a break.

One summer me an one other guy did a job by ourselves that was usually 12 people. We'd get 20 minutes for lunch. We had to go to this barge because were in a ship yard. I had to poop. So I poop and I had ten minutes left. i go to the galley to find something I can take with me. They had these individual ceral cups. I took one and this guy just loses it on me, "Hey! No taking food off the mess deck!" So I pretend to put it back and stick it in my coveralls. The guy sees me and I just bolt.

I literally ran to the lower level and into a head to scarf down dry cereral. The guy didn't even think - maybe this guy is just hungry and htis is his only meal today - he is covered in paint and carrying a life jacket - maybe I should let this one slide.