00:00Fred was a young soldier in a bustling camp where weekdays were a blur of drills and duties.
00:07But Saturdays were precious.
00:10They were the ultimate prize, a breath of freedom.
00:14This particular Saturday, their officer announced, you can go into town this afternoon.
00:19But first, I'm going to inspect you.
00:22Fred, whose weekend plans were more detailed than a military operation, hustled over to
00:28the officer for inspection.
00:31Your hair's very long.
00:33Go to the barber and then come back to me again, declared the officer with the sternness
00:38of a drill sergeant turned hair critic.
00:42Flashing a mixture of panic and a sheepish grin, Fred sprinted to the barber's shop as
00:47if it were the last helicopter out of a war zone.
00:51Only one problem, the shop was as closed as a top secret file.
00:56Fred stood there, crestfallen, for what felt like an eternity but was probably just a dramatic
01:02minute or two.
01:04Then, a lightbulb moment struck.
01:08He rushed back to the officer with a newfound confidence.
01:12Are my boots clean now, sir? he quizzed.
01:16The officer, whose attention to detail was legendary yet selectively narrow, focused
01:22laser-like on Fred's boots.
01:25Yes, they're much better now.
01:27You can go out.
01:29And next week, first clean your boots and then come to me.
01:34And so, Fred, whose hair still rivaled that of a 70s rock star, strolled into town, thinking
01:40that while war might be unpredictable, military inspections were an entirely different battlefield.
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