What the Navy Gave Me
I spent almost a decade of my life in the Navy.
A young K stands in front of a jet that has their name and rank on it.
I share a lot about my experiences, I am honest about how I’ve been treated and why I no longer associate with many veterans or veteran spaces. I had a lot of “times” in the Navy but I want to share some of the top sorta-kinda life lessons I still carry with me.
“Good enough for government work.”
K sits on the ledge of a jet while supervising a low power turn.
I have no idea how many times I’ve heard this phrase but it has now become on of my favorite things to say. I don’t even work for the government anymore and yet whenever I feel overwhelmed with a task or feel like I’ve spent too much time trying to prefect something I’m creating, I pull out this phrase and move on. Good enough for government work.
2. “Not a sir/ma’am, I work for a living.”
K stands in a hangar bay on an aircraft carrier while holding a dustpan and foxtail.
This funnily enough is a phrase that has helped me a lot on my gender journey. I was enlisted and upper enlisted would say this if we accidentally called them sir or ma’am, as that was usually reserved for officers. I now can easily say “not a ma’am” because of this phrase and it kind of holds a double meaning for me. It’s also funny to me how although there was a very strict gender binary in place, most of the time we were genderless blobs trying to make it to the next day.
3. “That’s above my pay grade.”
K stands in front of a jet on the flight line.
My work focuses on boundaries and psychological safety. This phrase enables one to acknowledge their responsibilities, knowledge and capabilities all at once. It gives way to ask questions and to be honest about what needs to happen next. I’ll go ask someone who has more access than I do or I’ll leave the situation up to someone who get’s paid to worry about such things. Either way, I’m doing only what they pay me to do.
These lessons, PTSD, Depression, a Substance Use Disorder (Alcoholism), a unique understanding of misogynoir and more were brought to you by the United States Navy.
Thank you for reading through! Hi, I’m K Mataōtama Strohl (They/Them). I’d love to be able to continue to share stories like this but I need your help to be able to do so. Please visit my Ko-Fi page to tip what you can and gain access to my other work. You can learn more about me and my work at the link below.
