Caps

"Sir...... Sir........."

I was at the bank's drive through, still in my scrubs, waiting to deposit my paycheck. I had been a long, hard 36 hours, but at least I was off work, and no longer on call. A young man, his arms covered in tattoos was motioning towards my passenger window. He had turned the ignition off of his motorcycle so I could hear him. Crap. Maybe I had a low tire. My pistol was underneath a newspaper on the passenger seat.

I checked my rear view mirror, and then..... I rolled down the window.

"Were you in the Navy?" he asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," I smiled.

"Your cap, it's good to see someone wearing one. I was in the Navy too," he said.

"Thank you for your service." It was his turn to smile.

"Where were you stationed?" I challenged him.

"San Diego, the Nimitz. I was a Bo'swains Mate," came the reply. Suddenly, the tattooed man became a landlocked sailor, a brother of the ocean.

"I was on the Midway, you might have seen her there......."

"Oh yeah, she's a museum now. There's a restaurant on the fantail."

"One day I want to take my family to see her," I mused.

If you are like me, and regret tossing out your old Navy duty station ball cap, there is still hope. At www.priorservice.com you can order ball caps for almost any modern US ship. Take a look. If you have never sailed in Uncle Sugar's Canoe Club, order one for a landlocked salt who has. You never know who it may make smile.