The First Time in Uniform

January 12, 2012 – The First Time in Uniform

It’s time to put on the last suit you will ever wear . . . or so it felt as the line from Men in Black ran through my mind. It is a mark of how full the days are that the day-and-a-half on board without a uniform seemed like it lasted forever. When you are the only person in a crew of over 1000 who is consistently not in the uniform of the day, one does tend to stand out. When you are the new T&D Manager, who has been awaited for over a week, the scrutiny is even more intense. But due to the rigors of the schedule during the first day, we didn’t even requisition the uniform until late on the night of the first day. With requisite tailoring of slacks and evening coat, the uniform was not ready until the morning of my second day. So, only after lunch on my second day did I finally pull on my day uniform. Officers day uniforms consist of black slacks, socks, and shoes, topped by a short sleeve white shirt, topped with shoulder epaulets with the markings of your rank. I am in the ‘middle management’ ranks, sporting 2 ½ stripes. Like the Navy, the captain wears four, and his senior staff has 3 or 3 ½. Junior officers wear a single stripe, which puts me solidly in the middle of the pack.

Two things happened when I put on the uniform. First, I immediately felt like I was now part of the team. Individual identity dissolves into the single personality of a crew united in service to a common purpose. Second, and more bizarre to a guy who grew up in the HP culture of egalitarianism, you are viewed by the rest of the crew through the lens of your stripes. I have never been addressed as ‘sir’ so many times in a given day. The Celebrity culture is predicated on engaging your crew mates. So, walking down the I-95 becomes a constant flow of greetings as all personnel pass. For an officer, it is virtually impossible to walk through an area unnoticed. This is more than a bit disarming and is only made bearable for me by my opportunity to share these moments of camaraderie with such a broad diversity of talented, culturally diverse teammates.  However, I’d often like to express the line that my dad shared with me which I believe is attributed to army sergeants, “Don’t sir me, I work for a living.” Actually, I don’t know anyone, regardless, of their stripes, who doesn’t work hard on this ship.

Unfortunately, for me, this is very much a small town. The word that the new T&D has arrived and has not yet received his luggage seems to be a well-shared story among the crew. As a result, almost no initial encounter with a crew mate proceeds more than ten seconds without the question being raised if I have my bag, and since not, if I have any need that they can help me fulfill. While charming in sincerity, I can hardly wait to receive my bag, which is scheduled to be delivered to the ship in San Juan, tomorrow. The fact that 20 new crew members will join us at the same time should certainly help me become yesterday’s news. Not to mention the 170 who will come on board (a 15% crew replacement!) as we start the new cruise in New Jersey next Tuesday.

And, of course, we all know who is responsible for training them all!

The journey continues . . .