Im Tavier St John. My dad is currently in the United States Coast Gaurd, and has been for 29 years. Though the moving required with his line of work has been very difficult for my sisters and I, its really grown us into better, and more independant people. A favorite memory I've had with my dad while he was working was one day i went to visit him on his ship. I was probably 7 at the time, and hadn't been on boats pretty much at all in my life prior to this trip. My dad showed me around the ship, explaining what everything did, how it worked, how much work and money it cost to have, and stuff like that. Finally after about an hour of him giving me a grand tour, I was starving. so i complained about being hungry and he took me to the ships cafeteria. This place looked absolutely wonderful to me. Full of metal tables, strange looking chairs, hidden booths to sit at, and probably the coolest of all: the chef. He was probably the biggest guy I'd ever seen, and he had so many tattoos. But when my dad started talking to him, he had such a soft voice. My dad asked what the menu was for the day. Although because of the chefs quite and meek voice, I couldn't make out what he said, but whatever he was making sounded wonderful. My dad asked how long it would take, and the chef said around 10 minutes, so in the cafeteria we waited for the glorious food being prepared. Ten minutes passed, and we went up to the counter where the food was waiting buffet style. I grabbed my plate and fork, walking in front of my dad. I first saw a food I was very familiar with, which were steamed carrots. I didn't like them much, but I still took some so as to not hurt the chef's feelings. Next I spotted some very delectable looking mashed potatoes. I scooped a big scoop of them, whilst they steamed continuesly on their trip from the counter to my plate. Next was our protein source, my dad told me to try both of them. Both of them looked exactly like chicken. One looked to be a chicken leg, and the other looked to be a chicken breast. I asked him what they were, and he replied, chicken. I was convinced and grabbed both enthusiastically. We then waddled over to our table with our heaping plates that smelled and looked amazing. I sat down, we prayed over our food, then I took a bite of the carrots. Tasted how i expected them too. They weren't my favorite, but they were not to bad. I then sampled the mashed potatoes. They were wonderful. A perfect combination of fluffiness and firmness, while also tasting perfect. Last was the "chicken". I grabbed the leg, and took a bite. Holy cow, it tasted awful. It tasted similar to how algae smells. I spit it out and my dad said to try the other one. I did reluctently, and it tasted somehow worse. It was tough and was just awful. I asked my dad why the chicken was so bad, and he simply replied, "probably because it was frog legs and alligator". Though this kinda scarred me, I look back and find the whole expirience to be a hoot. My father has taught me much about life. and much of it has been about the military. I thank you for your consideration.