5 of the worst things about standing in a ceremonial formation
SUMMARY
In the military, there isn't much that matches the pride of standing in a ceremonial formation. There you are, in front of a respectable crowd. Your dress uniform is perfectly pressed, your medals are shining bright, and the weather is outstanding — what the hell could go wrong?
Well, since there are many elements to a military ceremony, from the posting and retiring of the Colors to several long-form speeches, things usually run a lot longer than you'd expect — that's when these happen .
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Needing to pee
As you can imagine, it takes a minute to prepare everyone to march out in formation. Everyone needs to be accounted for before stepping off. You'll be out there in the sun, so it's essential that you drink plenty of clear fluids. Unfortunately, there's a fine line between being hydrated and being a bit too hydrated.
Suddenly, halfway through the proceedings, your full bladder tells your brain that you need to hit the head. Guess what? The ceremony won't pause so one troop can take a leak. So, good luck holding it in until the end.
Passing the f*ck out
Service members are trained to properly move into the position of attention, hold the pose, and move out of it in a smooth, choreographed motion. We're taught how to stand at that position for prolonged periods of time by keeping our knees slightly bent and wiggling our toes — even still, many end up passing out.
Most of us have passed out for one reason or another in our lifetimes, but doing it in front of a big crowd is super embarrassing.
[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2FWeIpt409bFVEA.gif&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fi.giphy.com&s=489&h=8fdbe62aa447045a25a2f9a396b1de0144b6941e286fb311595ff2472f6ffe5d&size=980x&c=1930256342 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252FWeIpt409bFVEA.gif%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fi.giphy.com%26s%3D489%26h%3D8fdbe62aa447045a25a2f9a396b1de0144b6941e286fb311595ff2472f6ffe5d%26size%3D980x%26c%3D1930256342%22%7D" expand=1]Overthinking
Most people aren't born to entertain a crowd. When you suddenly become the subject of a crowd's direct attention, you may start to overanalyze the little things, leading to dumb mistakes. How fast are you supposed to snap up a salute? Wait — do I start out on my right foot or my left?
It happens.
Getting the shakes
When standing in the same position for too long, people get tired and, to compensate, end up shifting their weight to find some type of relief. Although this might be subtle individually, when you're up against a backdrop of stone-still troops, the movement sticks out.
[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2FFgjKGypLCAety.gif&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fi.giphy.com&s=567&h=b8ec31c0b9b456269500c10750feef32193e1043b8b51e4179cae45d5626b484&size=980x&c=304348090 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252FFgjKGypLCAety.gif%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fi.giphy.com%26s%3D567%26h%3Db8ec31c0b9b456269500c10750feef32193e1043b8b51e4179cae45d5626b484%26size%3D980x%26c%3D304348090%22%7D" expand=1]Losing track of time
Since ceremonies can last a long time and they can be pretty dull, our minds will wander. Because we're thinking of something else, we tend to lose track of time, which can lead to making a stupid mistake, like snapping into parade rest at the wrong moment.
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