We were standing in line to buy gyros from the fair booth sponsored by the Greek Orthodox Church and the young people behind me were talking.
The blonde girl said to the soldiers in fatigues:
“I’d already signed the papers even before they came to talk to my parents.”
She talked about her job at the Dairy Queen and the soldier talked about the job she’d had at Arby’s. They were glad to have benefits and they used them:
“I got my teeth fixed. I got my glasses.”
I thought how many hours, days, months, and years these young women had spent standing behind a fast food counters while they were in high school in order to be eligible for benefits.
In the evening during the opening ceremonies of the Missoula Stampede Rodeo, the announcer proclaimed that tonight was Military Appreciation Night at the Western Montana Fair and Rodeo and introduced the sergeant who had traveled all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah to induct the new recruits tonight. The sergeant was the dark haired young woman in army fatigues from the food line and slender blonde girl was with the other new military recruits marching bravely out to stand in the dirt of the rodeo arena and take the oath of enlistment in front of the grandstand crowd under the big sky surrounded by mountains and cowboys on horses and American flags.
I was glad I was wearing sunglasses.