Chris Galaska

I've only done a small amount of work in the year and a half since I've posted on here but here are a few starting with an essay about professionalism that I had to write because I was deemed unprofessional by my superiors (I'm in the Marine Corps). I believe I flipped it on them nicely. You be the judge, and also feel free to read the other little stories I'm posting after this.



It is good to dig deeper into the depths of concepts that you were always taught to accept as facts without any real basis behind them from time to time. Sometimes you do this on your own for the sake of personal development. That is not the case in this study. I will divulge into the world of professionalism to help myself and anyone who will read this better grasp the concept as a form of extra military instruction after a recent brazen display of a lack of professionalism; the kind that can not be ignored. Recently I was found to have been behind a very unprofessional act that put my name and the name of my battalion to shame. I, in the name of good-natured fun combined with rash judgment, made a joke out of another Marine’s billet on his Outlook Email account for the whole world to see. This was unprofessional based on the fact that I alone disgraced the revered name of my battalion and made a joke out of a Marine NCO’s billet. The Marine NCO is in no way a joke, neither is Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment. The blatant irresponsibleness of this act warranted a deep personal look into what it means to be a Professional. Here is what I’ve concluded.

Professionalism is defined as displaying characteristics of being a professional; as to stand apart from an amateur. A vague definition such as this leaves much room for personal opinion on the concept of professionalism. Professionalism can not be described in a concrete way as to provide a model for how every professional should act, but rather it implies a certain loose baseline for how a professional conducts himself that one must build on with his own concepts from personal experience and careful observation. Observation being the more important and crucial contributing factor. In order to conduct oneself as a true professional, you must have had a strong example to emulate and create your own version of this truth from their example. But here is where a problem sometimes arises. Where does a man find a person with a strong commitment to professionalism that he can strive to be like? True professionals in this world are so few and far between that the handful left in this world are buried by the façade of professionalism steaming off far too large a percentage of the “professional world”.

Many unprofessional acts either get ignored or completely unnoticed due to the shocking frequency and almost general acceptance of these actions. A few that arise often in the Marine Corps are: Self Idolatry, adulation, demoralization of troops, and nepotism. Some may argue that these problems are prevalent in any workplace despite of occupation, but a fair man, when researching professionalism, would have to give a good look into each of them in order to develop a true sense of what it means to be a professional.

All of these problems almost tend to lead right into one another, in that if you notice a man is guilty of one, he more than likely takes part in at least one other. Self Idolatry is synonymous with egotism, or more realistically narcissism. Being good at what you do is what we are trained to do; however, in boot camp every Marine is also taught humility. To do what we are trained to do better than any other force on this planet can, and at the same time keep your mouth closed about how great you are. So many times this simple instruction is ignored by Marines today. To repeatedly call attention to your good deeds is to lack professionalism, plain and simple.

The same can be said of adulation. Every man wants to get ahead in life. It is an animal instinct to want to not just survive, but to advance, to get ahead in life. Hard work, dedication, and a bit of luck (sometimes accredited to a superior spiritual being) have long been the formula for this outcome. But, over the centuries adulation has become an all too commonly used catalyst to get ahead. Just as “professional” body builders and athletes all too often fall to the use of illegal steroids to get ahead in their game. If illegal substances in sports are deemed unprofessional enough to rate a Supreme Court hearing on the matter, than surely constant adulation of superiors by those trying to get one up on the guy next to him who’s an honest hard working man just doing what he needs to do and keeping his mouth shut should also raise a few alarms.

The Marine Corps has long took a stand against what it considers to be hazing, however, certain Marines are demoralized on a regular basis completely within the standards of what the Marine Corps would consider to not be hazing. Marines make mistakes, this is true. From time to time a Marine may need to have a stern talking to from a superior, but constantly hammering the same Marine for things that aren’t important. Or yelling at one Marine for things that another gets away with is not only brazenly unprofessional, but also an injustice. Nepotism in the workplace often times hangs so thick in the air you can feel it when you walk into a room. Just as you can feel racial tension in certain areas and situations. I believe that everyone would agree that it is a crime to mistreat a man based on the color of his skin or his religion, but how many would agree that it’s almost equally warranting of distain to treat one man differently in the work place than others based on the fact that you like them as a person? In the Marine Corps we are taught that once we put on the uniform every man of equal rank is equal. There is no room in a professional environment; especially not a professional war-fighting environment such as the Marine Corps has created for personal biases concerning those in your charge, or excessive mistreatment of any Marine regardless of whose charge he is in.

To summarize I’ve decided that in order to get a good idea on how a professional should act we must look at the unprofessional acts that plague our workspace on a day to day basis: Making a joke of your organization in a public forum, relentless talking up of one’s own achievements, adulation of superiors to get ahead in your career, excessive demoralization of troops in your charge, and unfair treatment of troops based on your personal opinions of your Marines. I’ve learned that a true professional is silent. A real professional will most likely never receive a medal for his actions, or be talked up by his superiors. He probably will never be noticed for the professional he is. But without any of that, a true professional will always have something that the rest of us can never achieve unless we strive to be more like him: A deep sense of self-satisfaction in knowing that every day he gave the best he had and never asked for anything in return. Not for glory sake, or to be recognized or rewarded, but just because that’s what he promised he would do when he raised his right hand and swore before God and all others. My hat is off to the few real professionals around, that two percent that we should all strive to be like; All of us.




Cpl Galaska, Christopher M.
2/7 H&S Communications Platoon
2007 June 20

__________________
Sliding we go, only fear on our side
To the edge of the wire, and we rush with the tide
Oh, the water is red with the blood of the dead
But I'm still alive, pray to God I survive

Chris Galaska

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.”
-Charles Darwin (1871)

For years, perhaps even decades, I dare not say centuries, but I dare not rule it out either, a question has been asked time and time again that has not yet been able to have been satisfactorily answered by scientists or speculators. Who would win in a fight in a neutral site between a silver back gorilla and a grizzly bear; both of average size? Such a powerful question that has left even the most dubious investigators and most brilliant scientific minds of recent generations dumbfounded. There is even tale that a number of suicides in the scientific community were a direct result of the utter difficulty of undertaking this query. Some might argue that God doesn’t want the world to know the answer. That’s why he spread the two animals so far apart in natural habitat. It’s widely known that God hates scientists anyway, so it’s not unreasonable to imagine that he originally posed the question knowing how impossible it is to solve, and knowing the suicidal fallout that would assuredly ensue. It’s been proven in the Bible that God hates competition, so it’s completely understandable that he would be using this question as a way to destroy the competition that is science. But I know very little on the matter of gorillas, bears, scientists, or God. One thing I do know a good deal about is the preservation of my species.
I am not here today to debate the fighting prowess of either of these magnificent specimens of natural killing beasts. No. I’m here today to draw attention to a very real danger in the near future. The curiosity of humans is a marvel to behold. As a result of this innocently curious nature of man, one day this question will weigh so heavily on us that one among the ranks of homosapia will set up an encounter to once and for all put an end to the heated debate that surrounds the topic of this fight. The meanest grizzly bear that the Canadian/Alaskan border has ever laid eyes on, a bear that killed 42 grown men who tried to hunt him, and completely ate 327 women and children due to their weak and powerless nature will be pitted against a silver back gorilla who was once witnessed to have ripped the arms off another silver back gorilla, taken his tribe and his wife, and slaughtered his younglings. This would seem like a novel idea: To finally know which species is tougher by throwing the hardest member of each in a fighting ring to battle to the death. This event would sell many tickets, yes, but would the ticket holders even come close to having a clue what they were really paying to see? No. What would take place there that day would be the beginning of the end for all that you and I know and love.
Allow me to paint you a picture of what would assuredly occur. On a warm day in June a capacity crowd would enter the arena to witness natures two most perfect land-dwelling killing machines fight to the death to once and for all end the debate of which species is superior in physical struggle. The mood in the place would be electric as thousands began filling the seats to witness first-hand what millions of others would be watching on Pay-Per-View. This truly would be history in the making. If only the poor schmucks would know why, though. The introductions of the fighters, done by UFC’s Bruce Buffer, would whip the crowd into such a frenzy that not only would the entire arena be shaking, but you could also feel the energy from outside all the way down to the stoplight a block away. Never before in all the gatherings of man would there be such a feeling of excitement and optimism. I almost don’t want to continue, but I must warn the public of the tragedy that will be if we do not avert this current course of action. By the time special guest referee, Mills Lane spouts out his famous catch phrase, “Let’s get it on!” Less than three percent of the spectators in the building will still have enough of a voice left to cheer loudly for the start of the fight. Up until this point everything would be going swimmingly, and the human race would seem sure to have prevailed over all. The poor knaves will have no idea what’s coming next.
Once the opening bell is struck the two animals will go right for each other, biting, clawing, scratching, punching, pulling, anything that either animal can do will be done. But something that the people don’t count on the animals to know how to do will also be taking place: conversation. Yes, folks, these two animals will spend the first six minutes of the fight blaming each other for the way they are mistreated by humans, specifically poachers. Once both beasts realize that neither is responsible for the suffering of the other they will stop fighting. The crowd will collectively let out a slight gasp and then boo the two brawlers, screaming, “Keep fighting you fucking pussies!” and other obscenities of that nature. Then what will happen next will cause the head of a forty-one year old man from New Jersey sitting in section “F” row “L” seat 14 to explode, soaking the shirt of his seventeen year old date in human skull insides such as brains, blood, and nerve cells. One of the animals, I’m not sure which one, will speak to the crowd in the same tone that a judge addresses a guilty defendant at a sentencing hearing when he delivers the news of damnation to death. What will follow will be ten times worse than any natural or man-made disaster that has struck the Earth ever before; to include the giant flood of the Bible as well as other mythologies. Limbs and torsos and heads will be ripped apart. Such a spectacle so depraved and violent that no one, not even Rudolf Hoss, the Nazi officer in charge of overseeing the murder of over a million Jews at Auschwitz during Hitler’s final solution, would not be able to stomach it.
When something like this occurs the whole world stands up and takes notice. Not just the media and their audience. No, the entire living world sees this tragedy unfold. Through word of mouth the incident would spread north to Alaska and Canada and even parts of our own country; out in the forests to all the grizzly bears and any other animals with enough heart to get busy with this gang of hibernatory creatures. The word would then travel on cargo ships across the ocean to the vast wild that is Africa. That’s when the real fiends will come out: Sneaky fucking hyenas, freakishly long-necked giraffes, gorillas and different monkeys from all walks of life, and even the ever feared king of the fucking jungle, The Lion. Once the recruitment quota has been filled the training will begin. All the while, people are only trying to forget about that horrid televised event that left thousands dead and tens of thousands more paralyzed from shock, still. If only our race would know that the danger was still far from over. After a hellishly intense six month, no rest training regiment led by former British SAS agent, and overall fucking animal, Bear Grylls, the animals were ready to attack. They could shoot well, fly jets, figure azimuths to fire mortars, everything that Bear Grylls could do. With more than half of our best military still deployed to the Middle East, where the animals were too pussy to join, our country will quickly be overran by the two fronted assault on our Northern border and Eastern coastline. The fight would be quick but brutal. Once the North and East were eliminated the animals would quickly push south and west. The whole state of California would piss its pants in fear and immediately surrender despite the yells of the governor to stay and fight. It would cause the animals as many casualties as they suffered on both coasts of the initial assault, but eventually the Governator would fall. That for many would be the final straw. With everyone’s spirits broken a treaty would be signed naming an especially quick rabbit named Speedy Joe, from Minnesota as the new President of the U.S.A. In that treaty would be a clause changing the “A” from America to Animalia.
All of this, I could handle. Destroy my entire world and tell me that as a member of the U.S. Marines, I now serve a rabbit, smaller and furrier than my ass, and I’ll shrug it off as I do everything else. But there will be one more thing that I just could not fucking abide by. All of those self-righteous, sock-sniffing, animal rights, vegan, PETA, cock suckers would be named the new House of Representatives, with animals making up the Senate. There are things in this world, such as murder, rape, and sex scandals that I can deal with from my political leaders. Even not being human doesn’t bother me for the senate. But for PETA to gallivant around on my TV telling me that it was inevitable that this happens because of all the mistreatment to animals that humans have done throughout the ages. All this blah, blah, blah, and a rum and coke shit that I would gladly decapitate a man for in my day. The only hope for a man such as me in a society like that would be to go to the wild myself. I could learn to hunt with my bare hands, maybe make them into bear hands, perhaps even take some sort of supplement that would assist me in growing sharp claws and fangs, and a tough coat of fur. I could become a wild animal myself. But I do not want this. I enjoy the creature comforts that come with being a human. I appreciate the technological advances we’ve made with our intellect. So, I ask all of you as a co-member of the human race, not to allow a bear and a gorilla to engage in a fight in front of a capacity crowd in a sold-out arena in a busy city. Life in this world as we know it will not be the same ever again if you do. I’ve heard it stated many times that curiosity killed the cat. I warn you that if we’re not careful this time the cat may kill the curious. Thank you, drive safe, and have a good night.
Chris Galaska

__________________
Sliding we go, only fear on our side
To the edge of the wire, and we rush with the tide
Oh, the water is red with the blood of the dead
But I'm still alive, pray to God I survive

Chris Miller

Just read the essay. Love your style of writing. It smacks a little of one of Wallace's disturbed little 1st person studies. As such, even though the tone and even the content, is reasonable, I find myself on the verge of laughter. It's hilarious. I hope your supers enjoy. You might hold up your Commander and Chief as a good example of almost a total unprofessionalism, but utter nepotism and incompetence to boot.

I thought "professional" simply meant you got paid. Like a "professional" woman isn't necessarliy any better at it than an amateur, probably even a whole lot worse. She just gets paid. Same for writers to some extent.

__________________
the fairwriting blogs

Barcelona Review story: http://www.barcelonareview.com/64/e_cm.html

Chris Galaska

You know, I can't pick on the president. I know he's ridiculously unpopular but I have no political views except "eh" and "screw it" so I can't ever be mad at the president. Besides, he makes me laugh. He may not be the best president, but he makes me laugh.

__________________
Sliding we go, only fear on our side
To the edge of the wire, and we rush with the tide
Oh, the water is red with the blood of the dead
But I'm still alive, pray to God I survive