Life on Post

Our family doesn’t get cable, because having access to seventy-odd channels turns out to be a huge time-suck. As a result, I’ve been watching the new Lifetime show “Army Wives” via the internet.

Last Sunday night I watched the entire program at home. The feed was slow, and I’d watch about twenty seconds of program before the feed would pause for another ten or fifteen seconds while the buffer caught up. But this past Sunday night I was at the airport, greeting my husband and his colleagues, so there was no room for television-watching. I decided as I was sitting in my usual coffee haunt yesterday morning that I’d see if I could view the second episode. The buffer and feed were even smoother at Mugsy’s than it had been at home, so I guess I know what I’ll be doing Monday mornings from now on.

I know there has been a lot of ruffled feathers over the fact that the enlisted families that are portrayed in the show aren’t representative of everyone - that there are such thing as highly-educated, professional, faithful enlisted wives. I know that to be true. And yet, I’m cognizant of the fact that happy, calm lives rarely make for critically-acclaimed dramatic television. Case in point: Desperate Housewives.

And yet, I’m finding this show enjoyable to watch. I can find something in most characters that I can identify with.

Click the following link for spoilers for the episode.

And I was about to say that yes, even with the Major’s son — who is getting ready to go to college, and who wants to do his own thing that’s not just following in the family business. I can honor that. I can respect that.

Until he grabbed his mom like that. Then I just wanted to slug him. And nearly cheered, right out loud in the middle of Mugsy’s, when Roxy came in and kneed him in the groin.

Even in my worst self-centered teenaged days, I only slapped my mom once. I felt horrible. And I never did it again.

So, no, I don’t find much to redeem that character in my eyes. But the SSgt, whose wife is the surrogate mom? I think he really tried to connect with her at the end of the episode, and that is the mental image I took with me as I went about my errands yesterday.