Summer of '96

It was the summer of ’96, and I had received a call from my favorite cousin Becky. She had mentioned that it would be cool if I could come out and visit them for a couple of weeks. I totally agreed! So with my next McCheck, (I used to work at McD’s) I bought me a plane ticket and was off to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. And yes, that is its real name. I ended up getting stuck in the Charlotte airport for an extra 3 hours. They actually have a Cheers bar in there. It didn’t look anything like the show, but I bought a pack of playing cards and played more solitaire in those few hours then I ever had. The only comfort I had at the time was my cd player and a couple of cds. By far the most listened to for me was Bone Thugs –N-Harmony’s E 1999 Eternal.


Why the hell is his head on fire?

Becky’s husband Gene was there to pick me up when I finally arrived. On the way to their house, we got a chance to catch up. He was also telling me about the Air Force and the base. I was so amazed to think that the base had a movie theater, a bowling alley, and like its own wal-mart type store. I couldn’t wait to check all this stuff out. We got to their house, and Becky was waiting for us. It was really cool to see her again. She actually lived with me for a while growing up, and was the closest thing to a sibling that I ever had. We always had a blast. That night we started a new tradition while eating dinner there. Gene would put on the new La Bouche cd and all through the meal he and I would bob our heads, like Steve and Doug Butabi (Night at the Roxbury).



The next two weeks were spent visiting all the places on base that I could go to. Not only was I amazed at all the different things there was to do on the base, but how cheap things were. Like bowling only cost us like $2 a game, plus there was no tax. Madness! Gene also started teaching me about golf. As much as I would’ve liked to be good, I wasn’t. So I rescinded myself to be his caddy. Which was awesome because I got to drive the golf cart! Our other past time was playing video games. When I first met Gene in 1990, we spent several days playing the original Metal Gear on the NES. Now was no different. He had a new Playstation and a Super Nintendo. Most of the time we would play one game in particular. Although I never beat him, it was still awesome. Boomshakalaka!



We also watched several great movies! Mostly Eddie Murphy movies. The Golden Child, Vampire in Brooklyn, and of course Coming to America. I could almost recite the entire movie after these two weeks. Another movie that stuck in my mind was CB4. It was so stupid it was funny. Plus with songs like “Straight outta Locash” you can’t go wrong. (NSFW language)



One of the days, we went to the mall. On the way there, I saw that I was running for state senate. Well, not me, but the sign said BRANNAN for State Senate. I thought that I had to have one of those. So Gene and I had planned to go out the next morning to the outskirts of town and find one out there and grab it and go. Conveniently for us there were two of them stapled to a board on a farm road just a few miles out of town. So we hop out and start pulling them off. As soon as we get started, Farmer Joe comes flying out of pick-up and asks what the hell are we doing? My first thoughts are “Oh shit! We are about to get shot and nobody will ever know!” And in the most impressive bit of high pressure improv I have ever seen, Gene starts off with this great story about how my name is Brannan and I’m from out of town and wanted one of the signs and we called the campaign office and asked to get one but they said that they were all out and that it would be ok if we came out there and grabbed one. He came up with all that without even missing a beat. I even believed it! Farmer Joe bought it and wished me a safe trip back to Florida. Back in the car, and after a great laugh. This song came on the radio and I will never forget it.



Another important visit we made, was to the flight line where Gene worked. I met a bunch of the guys he worked with and they were a trip. But it’s because of them I decided to join the Air Force. Back then I had wanted to be in the Army. I was so gung-ho. I wanted to be an Airborne Ranger. So these guys had to give me a hard time about it. Then one guy asked me why the Army and not the Air Force. I had no answer. Then asked me if I gave 100% in everything I do. I said that I did. Then he broke it down, and changed my view forever. He said “In the Army, it is expected that you give 100% all the time. And that’s just enough to get by. In the Air Force, if you give 100% you’ll be a fucking superstar!” I kind of just laughed it off at first, but the seed had been planted.

Unfortunately, my two weeks were up and it was time to go back home. It was the summer before my senior year, and I still had no idea what I was going to be when I grew up. It didn’t matter, I had an entire year to think about it. I had just had an awesome time and a summer I will never forget!
I’ll leave with probably my favorite song then. It was Green Day’s 2000 Light years away. It was off their album Kerplunk, and quite fitting for the end of my story.