Random Numbers

I would really like to meet the crazed lunatic that invented the numbering system that we use for our radios up in the comm room.

He wouldn't enjoy the meeting so much, but I would.

He'd be needing a whole bottle of Bactine afterwards. Trust me.

You'd think that they would just start with #1 and go on until they ran out of radios.

"Oh nooooo...." he says, his voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. "That would make waaay too much freaking sense now, wouldn't it?"

The lowest number we have is five. The highest is in the 700's. But we don't have anywhere near 700 radios.

And of course, every section has to have their radios reserved so they get the ones they want.

So the chaplains radios are marked with a "J". Don't ask me why.

The cooks radios start with "S". The rec officers start with "R". The only one that makes sense.

Maintenance, is of course "M" and the CTC radios are marked "CTC".

It seems at one point in history common sense broke out.

Some radios have mics and some do not. Some have cases but no mics, some have cases with swivels you can put on your belt. Some do not. Some have everything. Some have short antennas and some long ones.

And everyone has a preference.

When you get a radio, you give a key tab. It's a little bit of metal with your name stamped on it. It goes on a hook to show which radio you got.

But the little hooks have little or no connection with the radio numbers. And there are four different boards with the little hooks to choose from.

5-10 might be on this board. 11 got lost somewhere so 12, 13 and 14 are over here, but 15-22 are over on the other side.

72? Should be right next to 73, right?

Oh no. That's on that other board over there. It's special.

And since 5 is our lowest number, you'd think it would be first, right?

Oh hell no. It's way down at the bottom, right next to 6. Right between 179 and 184, right next to CTC1!

Of course it is! What was I thinking?

What the hell was I thinking?

That's a damn good question.