Didn't your Mama tell you

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  I remember this popular American Forces Network commercial that has Mother Earth standing in a forest, and at the end of the commercial, she adopts a New Jersey accent and says "Now, pick up after yourselves, ya hear." It's a great message that seems to fall on deaf ears.

So, you may be asking yourself, "What is this guy talking about?"

Case in point; I was walking from the wing headquarters building over to the Torii Building. I saw chip bags, water bottles and other assorted bits of paper strewn on both sides of the sidewalk; all I could think was, "Really?" This was so vexing to me that by the time I made it to the Torii Building, I had totally forgotten why I was over there.

Now, you may be thinking, "Well, why didn't you clean it up; you noticed it?"

Well, I can't do it all myself, and we shouldn't expect others to do it for us. So, we need to all chip in and police ourselves.

When we invite people onto the base, we want their first impression to be a good one. But, with all the rubbish scattered around, maybe they'll think, as Bugs Bunny put it, they took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

I believe the remedy would be to remember our core value of "Excellence in all we do." This core value doesn't just give us a rule to live by when we are at work; it also deals with an Airman's off-duty life.

Excellence in action; you come walking back from one of the on-base eateries and you toss your empty cup into a trash can or keep it until you get home. I bet if your mother was here she would tell you what a good boy you were.

But, since our mothers aren't here and some of us need to be placed on a leash, we can use the third core value, "excellence in all we do", to keep us in check.

I understand this may sound harsh, but I enjoy being here and I know other people do as well. So, be a good wingman, pick up after yourselves, ya hear.