Relative Rice Bowls

[degringolade]

Weird But Pretty

High clouds today, temp is probably gonna top out in the 40's, barometer 30.3.  I really need to start a better process of getting out to walk/exercise every day regardless of the weather.  But finding ambition and discipline is currently not happening.

In the long ago, down in the bowels of the infantry, there was an expression "rice bowls".  As we had just skulked away from the mess that was Vietnam, I am assuming that the phrase came out of that debacle, but who knows.  Maybe it is as old as the hills, I would love to ask Ed H. (an old friend of my dad's who spent time as a China marine back in the 30's) but he is well beyond asking now.

The phrase had to do with access to what was becoming an increasingly limited supply chain.  Parts were getting scarce, money was being taken away and the ability to do things was being limited.  There was only so much to go around and the lower level commanders (let's call it battalion level) competed/complained about what they were expected to do with less.  A graphic and usually vulgar description concerning the level of rice in the rice bowl was the code. 

I think that there is a lot of things being scrutinized in the fantasyland that is the District of Columbia.  Empires have been painstakingly built that have now been put on notice that audits do occur.  Funding trickery and planned leakages are being examined when they weren't before.  Rice bowls are being put in jeopardy. 

I have no dog in this fight.  I do have some preferences of things linked to government $$ that I would prefer not to be touched, but I do recognize that there is a chance I will get screwed, but as my linkage is through social security, the VA, and federal retirement, I suppose that my rice bowl is on the empty side anyway so they might just leave me alone.  I do recognize that my rice bowl might well be tipped, but the truth of the matter is that if it gets tipped over, there are going to be a whole bunch of people worried about the horsemen besides myself.