At Gate C27 a Cocky Marine Ridiculed My Army Rank, Right Before a General Showed Up

“Did Lance Corporal Carter follow all pre-flight movement regulations after your group checked in at eight thirty?” General Vance asked.

Mason took a small black notebook from his uniform shirt pocket, his fingers drumming nervously on the leather cover.

“Answer the question I asked, Corporal,” General Vance said.

“Lance Corporal Carter left our gate area at fourteen hundred hours, General,” Mason said in a low, careful voice.

“And where did he go?” General Vance asked.

“To the airport lounge by Gate C12,” Mason said.

“He drank two draft beers before he came back to our boarding row.”