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Love that. Been up to the Maine Maritime Museum a few times, always found that representation of the outline of that huge coaling ship to be a fascinating link to the past!

Speaking of Bath Iron Works, I had a funny experience with the USS Michael Murphy when she was being built up in the Bath Iron Works in Maine.

My wife and I took a tour, but since 9/11, they don’t allow the usual tours where you would walk from building to building or that kind of thing. Now, you have to give ID about a week in advance, they do a check on you, and when you take the tour, they put you on a bus and drive you around. You don’t get off.

Oh well, I guess it is better than nothing.

Anyway, as we came around the side of one building, the USS Michael Murphy came into view, and she had already been launched and was in the water, but I presume, not yet commissioned as they were still finishing work on her while she was tied up.

I eyed her with some interest, there were a lot of Navy and civilian personnel aboard her, and I saw that there were armed guards in cammo (that silly blue-tinted kind) standing watch with M-16s slung over their shoulders. There were two tall, muscular athletic looking young men standing watch, and as we got closer, I saw them facing each other maybe two feet apart, doing something with their hands.

Nobody else on the bus saw them since they were likely looking at the vessel, but I saw them, and there was something vaguely familiar about their interaction with each other that rang a bell in my memory somewhere...what WERE they doing?

Then in hit me.

They were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors! A loud strangled laugh choked out of of me when I realized it, and a bunch of people turned suddenly and looked at me inquiringly, I had to apologize and I pointed and said “Look! Those watch standers are playing Rock-Paper-Scissors!”

Then they all looked, and began grinning and twittering.

At that point, a Chief in khakis came storming out and gave them a stern chewing out, which was easy to see from their body language, the stooped shoulders and bowed heads, while the jaw of the Chief worked furiously.

Then they parted and went to stand in different areas.

Now, I know these are military personnel with a job to do, and and they should have been doing it. But I suspect, as has happened with military personnel dating back to early Rome, long hours of boredom (probably looking for white supremacists, racists, or conservatives to approach in an explosive laden boat that would never appear) drove them to chat, and eventually revert to the big kids they appeared to be (as all young sailors really are inside) and begin playing a kid’s game.

Heh, the Chief likely saw the bus come around full of tourists, and then saw them clowning around with each other.