A letter from Mar 19th, 2022

Dear Andy, It is the same time of year as you are in now, and I am in my senior year of high school. Currently I am sitting on my couch eating dad's black beans and rice: it's pretty good. I know I wrote myself a letter not too long ago, maybe you got it a couple weeks or months back around December. I'll keep this brief. Over the last couple weeks I've been deliberating on joining the military for a little bit. Certainly not the army or marines, as I would suffer from severe cognitive dissonance from trying to follow their orders. The navy and air force are as well, but you still would have to deal with conditions and orders you can't agree with. The Coast Guard, however, ticks all the boxes. - You are exponentially more likely to stay in the US - Won't suffer cognitive dissonance from the orders - Significantly less likely to see combat - You love the water - Still get veteran benefits - Still get the EXPERIENCE And that's what I'm thinking right now, man. Life is all about experiences. Are you just gonna get a job right out of college and trap yourself somewhere? NO! Try things, dammit! Join the Coast Guard for a couple years, if you like it, stick with it! Become an officer if you want to. There's only 50,00 people in the Coast Guard, you could surely become an Admiral! And if you don't like it: then leave! Move to Latin America and use your teacher certification to teach English, and you can tell people you were in the coast guard before you did this. And maybe you will fall in love with that after a year or two and stay there. And if you don't: leave! Go back to the US and use whatever four year degree you got to get a job! But no matter what you are never trapped. Worst comes to worst, you are always able to quit whatever miserable job you have and join the military, or buy a one-way ticket to Lima or Mexico City and live around. Nothing is stopping you except for yourself!! The bottom line is that whether it's the coast guard or teaching English or teaching Latin or hell even becoming an EMT, there are always options and you are never stuck. Please never forget that. Would high school senior you be proud of us right now? Would our children? "For Chrissake try to have some god**** fun." Do you remember when Chris said that to us when we were becoming a Paladin? -Andy