Habits of Military Spouses

[CJack14dt]

So living in Hawaii I am surrounded my military housing and see military spouses and their habits. There are a couple things we civilians notice that blows our minds so I'm curious to know if anyone on the OT has experience with these things and could explain.

1. The majority of military spouses (with and without children) balloon up many times to morbid obesity while their husbands/wives (usually husbands) are on deployment. It is very common to see hot ripped men and women walking around with heifers. Wouldn't as a spouse you be extra motivated to stay in shape and keep yourself looking good while your significant other is out there fighting and you're home collecting his paycheck? Wouldn't you be mortified to let him see you like that after he's been suffering and working his ass off in some pretty nasty places?

2. Military parking. This actually is a hot spot within the military and curious to hear other civilian opinions. Outside of military malls/stores there is special parking for military members of higher ranks. There is a a big division of opinion on whether the spouse of these high ranking officers should be able to use the parking in their absence? You would not believe the ire that in invoked by lower servicemen when they see Captain's wives park their SUVs in there to go pick up groceries. Their argument is that space is reserved for the person of the rank, not their "cling-ons".

[xylophone]

So living in Hawaii I am surrounded my military housing and see military spouses and their habits. There are a couple things we civilians notice that blows our minds so I'm curious to know if anyone on the OT has experience with these things and could explain.

1. The majority of military spouses (with and without children) balloon up many times to morbid obesity while their husbands/wives (usually husbands) are on deployment. It is very common to see hot ripped men and women walking around with heifers. Wouldn't as a spouse you be extra motivated to stay in shape and keep yourself looking good while your significant other is out there fighting and you're home collecting his paycheck? Wouldn't you be mortified to let him see you like that after he's been suffering and working his ass off in some pretty nasty places?

2. Military parking. This actually is a hot spot within the military and curious to hear other civilian opinions. Outside of military malls/stores there is special parking for military members of higher ranks. There is a a big division of opinion on whether the spouse of these high ranking officers should be able to use the parking in their absence? You would not believe the ire that in invoked by lower servicemen when they see Captain's wives park their SUVs in there to go pick up groceries. Their argument is that space is reserved for the person of the rank, not their "cling-ons".

Must be a Hawaii thing, I live in San Diego and see neither of these.

[Mongoose19]

The pettiness of this problem is so hilarious I am not able to think of any reasonable reply. Really I would everyone to have only such problems to discuss.

[Biged781]

My girlfriend was in the Navy for six years. They routinely call a female military wife a "Depend-apotomous". Yeah, that's how common it is. Not sure where xylphone is looking, but I see this all the time. I've never seen #2 though and I live close to Pendleton in northern SD county.

[Reg]

Until you are a military spouse, I doubt you understand what these men and women go through knowing that one day an officer if full dress uniform can show up on their doorstep with bad news. Sitting at home wondering every day if you husband or wife is going to die can sometimes lead to depression and depression is usually one source of weight gain. I find it pretty natural, and I don't even see it as a bad thing.

The parking I can't comment on with accuracy, so I will refrain from doing so.

[Urti]

The corrollary to #1 is the concept of "Doha Hot". This refers to a person being attractive mainly becuase they are the only prospective sex partner within miles. It references Camp Doha. ie "She's/he's a 4 back home but a 10 in Afghanistan, thats Doha Hot."

[Alvito]

1, If you have ever delt with the stress and depression of having somebody you love leave to go to a warzone then you should understand how ppl can fall into many some destructive cycles to cope. For some its over eating, others its booze there are dozens of ways good and bad ppl handle this. Having somebody you love and are used to seeing all the time not only go away for months on end but go away to what for some is an extremely dangerous place is a living nightmare.

2. The only time I have seen ppl really care about the parking is if the Lt Col idiot 16 year old comes flying through the parking lot to grab it. Even then if your big problem of the day is who is parking where you have an amazing life and should whistle and smile with every step you take.

[xylophone]

My girlfriend was in the Navy for six years. They routinely call a female military wife a "Depend-apotomous". Yeah, that's how common it is. Not sure where xylphone is looking, but I see this all the time. I've never seen #1 though and I live close to Pendleton in northern SD county.

Is it just in the commisaries? Cuz I have never seen a military parking space.

Edit: my bad, didn't see thats what they were talking about. I don't live near any of them so I've never seen that.

[CJack14dt]

Must be a Hawaii thing, I live in San Diego and see neither of these.

I lived in San Diego before Hawaii and #1 was extremely prevalent there too. #2 I didn't really have an opportunity to see.

[mizeri]

all the army wives around ft campbell usually hooking up with the younger soldiers while the hubby is away

[xylophone]

I lived in San Diego before Hawaii and #1 was extremely prevalent there too. #2 I didn't really have an opportunity to see.

Number 2 is probably because we're all beautiful here =P

[CJack14dt]

Number 2 is probably because we're all beautiful here =P

Um #2 is the parking one.....

[Alvito]

all the army wives around ft campbell usually hooking up with the younger soldiers while the hubby is away

Being draw and quartered is too good for them.

[Bearshield]

So living in Hawaii I am surrounded my military housing and see military spouses and their habits. There are a couple things we civilians notice that blows our minds so I'm curious to know if anyone on the OT has experience with these things and could explain.

1. The majority of military spouses (with and without children) balloon up many times to morbid obesity while their husbands/wives (usually husbands) are on deployment. It is very common to see hot ripped men and women walking around with heifers. Wouldn't as a spouse you be extra motivated to stay in shape and keep yourself looking good while your significant other is out there fighting and you're home collecting his paycheck? Wouldn't you be mortified to let him see you like that after he's been suffering and working his ass off in some pretty nasty places?

That's funny, perhaps I dont count since I was in the military as well, but at the time of my husband's last deployment I had already gotten out and I actually lost a noticeable amount of weight while home alone with our daughter. Since my husband was away and our child was pretty young, I wasn't cooking the kind of big meals I make when my husband is home so I wasn't eating as much. I do know what you mean though as some of our friends who were married to non-military had rather large spouses.

As to the parking thing, I rarely set foot on base after getting out of the military so I really never cared who parks where.

[Urti]

all the army wives around ft campbell usually hooking up with the younger soldiers while the hubby is away

"Jodi calls" are all to accurate I'm afraid. GI's are often guilty of this too though, I've heard plenty of NCO's on TDY calim it doesn't count in a different zipcode.

[NoRest4Wicked]

It's common knowledge in the Marine Corps that when promoted to SSgt, you don't only pin on a rocker, your wife pins on 100 pounds.

[Bearshield]

"Jodi calls" are all to accurate I'm afraid. GI's are often guilty of this too though, I've heard plenty of NCO's on TDY calim it doesn't count in a different zipcode.

I believe the expression you're looking for is "What goes TDY, stays TDY."

[cherb]

I'd be kinda bummed out to come back from a tour of duty only to find that a whale moved into my house =(

[xylophone]

Um #2 is the parking one.....

Doh... Should stop being lazy and actually proofread stuff every once in a while.

[littlewisp]

1. All I can say is, the only time my mom got fat was when the meds she was taking for a compressed/bulging lower spine disc had a side effect of weight gain. Between all the meds she's been on over the years for her back issues she's still trying to get rid of those last 50 or so pounds. I'm a military brat, and I still feel there is no reason to allow yourself to go that far. There are all sorts of support groups for military dependents. No excuse. And I say this as a person with family members who have almost died during deployment, with spouses who still somehow manage to live healthy. Obese spouses should be the exception, not something to make excuses about.

2. Never heard of problems with this.

Growing up, the biggest thing I noticed was when spouses hijack power. Case in point: Base commander's wife was putting on a party for his graduating daughter. They were allowing boys and girls to spend the night at their home. My mother was uncomfortable letting my sister spend the night. You know what she got? Name and rank dropping, and vague insinuations about my father's career. Also, my fiance used to work as a lifeguard at the base pool. If a spouse got upset about something, even if it was petty as all get out, and his/her wife was high ranking? Oh yeah, you better believe it affected how seriously the complaint was taken.

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