Maxim Magazine

My last entry was a bit intense. But, not everything that goes on here at Bagram in the middle of a combat zone is so serious. We have to find the humor in things as well. Yesterday was a good example.

We have several Afghan kids in the hospital right now in long term recovery. One is a 12 year old with the initials of A.M. He's a pretty happy kid and all. He's been through a lot, but things are looking up for him. A.M. should leave the hospital in a few weeks and have a full recovery. His biggest challege right now is boredom. He is constantly looking for things to do. I'll get back to A.M. in a minute.

Right around the corner from A.M.'s room are some "Enemies of Peace", aka bad guys being treated by us. They are guarded by the Army guys who captured them. It's a bit surreal to have guys with guns outside the patient rooms. Anyway, the Army guys also deal with a lot of boredom. The other day I noticed one of them reading Maxim Magazine. If you are not familiar with it, basically it is like soft core pornography with lots of pictures of scantilly clad super models. It also has all kinds of ridiculous articles trying to help guys get chicks in bed. That's basically it. Not exactly quality reading for our soldiers and perhaps not appropriate while on guard duty!

So, I decided to intervene. A copy of "The Five Love Languages" was sitting at the nurses station for some reason. I decided to pull rank here. As a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, I jokingly ordered the Army private to put down that Maxim Magazine and pick up "The Five Love Languages". The lad followed my order... so I thought.

Not long thereafter, as I was walking through the ward I noticed the aforementioned Afghan kid with the initials A.M. sitting in the hallway. He had a big grin on his face and seemed mesmorized by something. Well... HE WAS READING MAXIM MAGAZINE!

Yeah, the private followed my order only to hand over the Maxim to a 12 year old Afghan boy. Tomfoolery, I tell ya, Tomfoolery!