Maybe my mom was right

My mom, like most moms in the last few decades, was never one for violent or gory movies, especially the sci fi ones I liked so much. While she never came out and told me that watching scary movies would scar me emotionally, she certainly never thought too much of it was good for you. Flash forward 20 years, to yesterday. After finding an IED on our convoy route, my platoon began looking for the ever elusive trigger man, the guy on the remote control waiting to set off the bomb. Our search took us to a small compound. Like most house compounds in Iraq, it wasn't much more than a couple of small buildings with a wall around it. But this one also had a large water cistern, basically a cement bunker half filled with water. I took one other soldier with me and we climbed down the ladder into the water. With flashlights in one hand and guns in the other, I suddenly found myself in a sci fi movie environment. Searching for bad guys in waist deep water in the dark, I thought less on the terrorist with AK-47 that might be around the next corner, than the thirteen foot long, three headed, blood sucking alien I was sure must be moving through the water towards me. This is a time when macho male bravado is a good thing. In the end, neither the terrorist or the alien was found. We climbed out cold and wet but able to laugh at ourselves. Maybe I'll wait until my own kids are older to watch scary movies.