Dining Out

This past Friday, My Love and I were able to attend an official Dining Out with his squadron.

It was a  TON of fun!

The "Dining Out" is steeped in tradition - replete with rules on how to do, pretty much, everything.

My first experience with a dining out was in May 2007. I was 700 months pregnant with Jumping Bean, and My Love was in OCS in Pensacola, FL. The dining out was held at the Officer's club on NAS Pensacola (Which is GORGEOUS) and we had a great time.

May 2007

Except.

Except for when I had to rush out and exit the hall - without permission - to throw up.  Yep. Little Jumping Bean decided broccoli was not for me and needed to be ejected post haste.

That was a big deal.

Not so much that I threw up...but that I left without following protocol and tradition.

Protocol dictated permission must be requested, by the active duty service member, for their needs or those of their date. Unfortunately, when I told My Love I NEEDED to throw up; he suggested I "hold it."

When you are pregnant, you don't "hold" anything. 

Ever.

So, I was excited to attend a dining out not pregnant, and with a bit more knowledge of how it all worked.

First - it is a formal affair. The service members wear choker dress whites (Favorite!!), or service dress blues (Depends on time of year), or mess dress; and the civilian wears formal or cocktail attire.

A chance to get all dressed up is hard to come by  - and it was a blast to get to spend 2 hours getting myself ready for a date!

There are a bunch of rules about when you must sit, when you stand, whom you can speak to, the order of the toasts, and when you may go to the bathroom.  Which, actually, makes it a lot of fun. Because when there are that many rules....some are bound to broken.

And when they are broken, punishment is meted. Which is why there is a grog.

(The grog is a mix of drinks that is supposed to taste nasty. In Pensacola, the alcoholic mix was in a toilet, and the non-alcoholic combo was in a potty chair.)

Friday night found some people having to do cartwheels, sing Billy Joel, or having to do a somersault, in addition to drinking the grog.

The entertainment was a skit, roasting various members of the squadron. My Love was a part of it and got everyone laughing right away. (I should have taken pictures, but I was laughing to hard!) We also had live music from 3 members of squadron and it was a treat!

Overall, the night was a complete success.  It was fun and enjoyable. And it left us all with a feeling of camaraderie to build upon over the next year.

If you ever have the chance - you should go to a dining out (or military ball)....just be sure to go to the bathroom before dinner starts!

~Whitney

 Copyright 2012