It Ain't Me

 FORTUNATE SON by Credence Clearwater Revival (1969)

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
They're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief"
They point the cannon at you, Lord

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, yeah
But when the taxman comes to the door
The house look a like a rummage sale

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
They send you down to war
And when you ask 'em: "How much should we give?"
They only answer: "More, more, more"

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no military son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

I used to listen to this song often and when the song was playing on the radio in the car at the same time I was driving, I would turn the volume up loud and roll down the windows to let everyone listen...  we were children of the 60's and we were no fortunate son...

HOWEVER, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Three years prior to the song's release date, I had graduate from high school in Cairo Egypt specifically because I was, in fact, a FORTUNATE SON...  as my Dad was a high ranking official in the American Embassy and I held a Diplomatic Passport.

It was in 1969 that I also dropped out of college and lost my deferment for the draft, so instead of waiting around to be drafted, I enlisted in the NAVY...  thinking being on a boat was better that grunting around on the ground with a rifle.

I wasn't much into the military hierarchy but I found myself adapting very quickly and like any FORTUNATE SON, learned how to manipulate the system so that I could get more vacation than had been approved...  all legal mind you...

I would ask for 5 days of vacation in between 2 weekends neither of which were my duty weekends.  So, at noon on Friday, I would leave for home, then while home on Sunday, I would call into the ship at midnight, informing them that my vacation had started.  On that next Friday, I would call the ship just before midnight, informing them my vacation had ended...  then I would report for work that following Monday.

Five days of annual leave approved but actually 9 days taken...  and since the military gave us 30 days of annual leave, I could perform this little stunt 6 times which is exactly what I did...  of course, I was not the only clever sailor to do this.