Robert Metzger:  

School School. What can I say about school? Hmm. It was something to be endured. The only thing that really made school worthwhile to me, was meeting people, making friends (not always an easy task). In school, as in life, every person I meet, is a potential friend. Potential. How does one judge potential? I wonder. My criteria for selection, was rather simple, in the end. Is this person nice? Do they treat others well? Do their interactions with others avoid causing harm? Are they judgemental? Are they prejudiced? (Prejudice is difficult to overcome and insidious in how it influences our lives.) With prejudice, I was cautious. I tried to think about why someone would harbor such feelings. Were they feelings that could be overcome? Knee jerk reations, that were programmed into a person's psyche from an early age? It was often difficult to tell. Myself, I suffered from this affliction, though I always fought against it. Perhaps, if someone recognizes the prejudice and does their best to overcome it, prejudice can be forgiven. It does exist, however, in all of us, yes me, as well. The thing that, perhaps, saves us (me), is that we do not let it rule our lives and our friendships. This is hindsight. The best sight, if one cares or bothers to look. I was prejudiced in school. Even though I tried to like everyone, I never really gave people who seemed to hold others in contempt, a chance. I judged them. Harshly. One of my major regrets from my time at G.I. After high school, I enlisted in the Army. After Basic Training and advanced training at Fort Knox I was sent to Germany, to a small town named Bad Hersfeld, near the border between East and West Germany. I was the gunner on Track 5 (I think) in Second Platoon, Lima Troop, 3rd of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Our mission was to watch the border and in the event of an attack by the Warsaw Pact, to slow down the enemy advance so that all the other NATO units could get on a war footing to defend Europe. So we were always on, no down time, like the Energizer Bunny, ever ready. That was the theory anyway. Unfortunately, I didn't part ways with the military on the best of terms. This was due, in large part, to a certain immaturity on my part, of which I was too immature to realize: and a degree on immaturity on my troop commanders part, of which he should have been mature enough to realize. I mean, how does one become a Captain in the Army, without gaining some maturity. Water under the bridge. When I got back I went to the University at Buffalo, for awhile. Did fairly well there with a 3.56 GPA, but I really didn't have many friends. All my ...Expand for more