Basic training in the military sounds like the opposite of fun, but one former cadet shared that he found a way to enjoy any job he was given.

The problem arose when he was given a job that he knew was a bad idea. How could he get the sergeant to listen to him?

Let’s see how the story plays out…

Military oven cleaning in 1971

A half-century ago, i was in the Air Force for a spell… and of course Basic Training was awful.

One of the famous banes of the cadet life is KP, or Kitchen Patrol: being chosen to spend a day doing grunt-work in one of the base chow halls.

This happened to me, but with a twist.

The pots and pans workstations was the worst.

Between casual Vietnam-era chatter and clowning around with fellow KP-victims in what was basically a welcome break from routine, I was managing to have a pretty good time… which drove the sergeant crazy.

He would occasionally interrupt to give me a harder job or separate me from a friend, at last assigning me to the dreaded “pots and pans” workstation.

In Texas summer heat, wielding hot-water sprayers and big brushes to scrub greasy cookware involves much sweltering, and within moments I was soaked with sweat in my heavy cotton fatigues.

Of course, I still managed to have fun. How else does one cope?

Then there was a new assignment.

Suddenly: “Roberts! Get your butt over here. I have a job for you!”

“Yessir?”

He opened a small oven that was in desperate need of cleaning… there were deeply baked-in spills, black and crusty.

“Clean this oven! I want it to shine like that table!”

He pointed at a stainless work surface nearby, and handed me a bucket with hard abrasive pumice scrubbing block.

He wasn’t sure that cleaning the enamel with a pumice block was a good idea.

I got to work, noting that I was starting to scratch the enamel on the door.

“Um, sir? You really want it to look shiny like that stainless table? This enamel….”

“God darn it, how many times do I have to tell you, Roberts? You deaf or what? You hippies make me sick. I’m gonna… just shut up and do the darn job, willya? Jesus.”

He turned and walked away.

Finally, the chef noticed what was happening.

I got back to work, gradually chewing through the enamel and down to bare steel on the door, detailing around the edges.

This was not easy, and there were parts near the hinge that were impossible to reach.

Exhausted and sore-muscled, I was just starting on the interior when the civilian chef… who ran the kitchen… noticed what I was doing.

Her voice cut through the cacophony: “HONEY! What the hell you doin’ to my oven?”

The sergeant actually had to apologize!

In the ensuing moment of frozen silence, you could hear a distant boiling pot and conversation out in the dining hall.

I put on my best stupid voice. “Well, um, ma’am, that sergeant over there told me to make it look like this table here.” I pointed.

“I am gonna KILL him!”

Moments later she was towering over the sergeant. All I could hear from him was “yes ma’am, yes ma’am, I’m so sorry ma’am, yes I understand.”

He glared over at me, but retreated.

I always felt bad about the damage to the oven, but man, that was worth it.

It’s great that since the chef was a civilian the sergeant wasn’t really her superior. OP played that just right!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story…

This person couldn’t resist the cooking puns.

Here’s a similar story about a coffee maker.

The sergeant shouldn’t have messed with the chef’s tools!

Another reader shares a movie quote.

There are probably exceptions, but this is true sometimes.

That sergeant really messed up!

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.