I’ve always been intrigued  by expressions.  Years ago my brother-in-law Lou bought a book about the origins of phrases in the english language and eventually we got a copy as well.  I know it’s kind of geeky but that’s what I am!  For example, the other day, Peg and I were watching the news and a reporter used the term “tarmac”.  Peg turned to me and said, “You flew for 35 years and I never heard you use that word.  What’s the story?”.  Unless she really wanted a long dissertation, she shouldn’t have asked.

In the early 1800’s a Scottish gentleman by the name of MacAdam came up with a process of paving roads, called macadamization, which involved layers of crushed stone and sand.  It made a better drained and less rutted road for carriages and wagons but produced lots of dust and was prone to washouts.  Years later, in the 1830’s, tar was added to the process, originally coal tar, which significantly improved the process.  This tar reinforced macadamization became referred to as “tarmac”.  With the exception of one airfield in Scotland, tarmac was replaced by asphalt and concrete decades ago.  It seems like only the news media is holding on to the term, but then the media isn’t well known for actually checking their facts.

The phrase that really got stuck in my head this week is “going native”.  I think we all know what it means but where did it come from?  At the height of the British empire, with the British military stationed around the world, the problem arose that members of the military and foreign service would become so immersed in the local culture that they would begin to set aside their british air of superiority and embrace the “inferior” native population.  To prevent this “going native” problem, troops were limited to short tours and rotated regularly.

We’ve come a long way.  At least we think we have.  When we’re deployed overseas we encourage our military to immerse themselves in other cultures.  To learn the language, or at least bits of it, to make a good impression, and to become involved in communities.  I understand that our purpose for being deployed is totally different that the purposes of the British empire but I think we did inherit their fear of going native.  We’ve just applied it differently.

I’ve spoken before of the evils of careerism in the military.  How the constant movement, at great expense to the taxpayer, facilitates upward mobility.  Get in, make some “great” change to the organization, get promoted, and get out.  Let’s not get too involved in people’s lives, in local problems.  That could get messy, that’s could get hard.  But here’s where we can’t let active duty ignorance infect the reserves.  Going native isn’t a liability, unless you want to use the military against the local population, native is what the reservist already is. Reservists are already invested in the community.  They embrace the local culture because they are the local culture.  They care about the members of the unit because they’ve grown up with them and are willing to do the hard work to help each other and make the unit the best it can be.  Sadly, I’ve hear AFRC senior leaders use the phrase “going native” as a pejorative.  But let’s not limit this discussion to the military.

There is a trend in our society to move on to something “better” when the going gets tough.  To do what’s fun for us in lieu of what’s going to have a real impact on our family and friends.  To eschew the hard work of daily involvement and, sometimes, drudgery in favor of what we want.  Sacrifice, commitment, dedication, loyalty, words that I’m afraid have been lost in a world of self-promotion, selfishness, and narcissism.  Do me a favor.  Find someone this weekend who is doing the hard work.  They’re not always easy to find because, well, they’re busy doing the hard work.  Thank them for what they do.  Look around for opportunities to go native.