A few of my fellow milspo bloggers have attended balls recently, and I got to thinking about the first one Mac and I attended. Technically, we went to a dining in while he was in ROTC, but our first official formal after he commissioned was in August of 2010. It was awful. Everyone raves about buying a gorgeous gown, getting all glammed up, and having a blast partying away. This did not happen. We had lived in North Carolina two months, and I had just quit my first “big girl” job. I was actively looking for a new position and was about two weeks away from starting at the poultry processor I worked at for two years.
The day started off fine. I found a hairdresser, got my hair and nails done, and got ready. Mac came home from work and also got dressed. We headed over to the Agri-Expo center at Crown Coliseum. I’m not exaggerating when I say that there were around 2000 people at this formal. Mac and I eventually found our table with his unit and grabbed some drinks. We chatted with the other couples before the formal program of the evening for a bit and had our own conversation.
Then things went downhill. Mac made some off-hand remark along the lines of “at least he had a job” while I was unemployed. I did not take it well, and my response was something like “the only I reason I took that job where I left for work at 3 am and spent 12 hours elbow-deep in raw pork was for you, dumbass.” I seriously contemplated leaving (I drove us there), but the official program started. Have you ever gotten into a fight and been unable to leave or fight it out for like two hours? I don’t recommend it. After a boring speech, the worst comedian in the world started his act. The butt of his two main jokes were the Air Force and Auburn. Seeing as how I’m an Auburn fan because I lived in Alabama while my Air Force officer dad was stationed there, I was not amused.
As at all military functions, there comes a point in the evening where you are officially allowed to leave. I was up out of my seat before that announcement ended with Mac chasing after me. Apparently, I can hustle while wearing heels when properly motivated. We made it to the car before I totally exploded with rage. Have you ever had a major fight where you started crying while driving? I don’t recommend it. After having it out, we eventually made up (obviously, we’ve been married almost 3 years). So our first military ball is also remembered as the worst fight of our entire relationship.
Have any of y’all ever gotten into a fight while out somewhere?
Jen says
It’s always fun to look back at events like this! š
Elizabeth Dietz says
My husband and I got into the biggest fight of our entire relationship (we had been dating almost 6 years and weren’t even engaged, let alone married at this point) while we were spending the weekend at a friend’s house. We had actually driven there separately because of our work schedules and after sitting outside on the sidewalk crying for an hour I actually drove myself home in the middle of the night. I was not only embarrassed that we had fought in front of all of our friends, but embarrassed that I had broken down like that and yeah, it was not pretty.
Elizabeth T says
Oh it’s absolutely horrible when you’re in a fight but you can’t actually like…fight. At least you can laugh about it now!
Stephanie Whitener says
That is the pits. Tom and I have had a fight in a restaurant with his parents. It was awful. Look at it this way though, at least you can only go up from here with your military ball experience.