Evendays

Most of you know that a company of Swiss soldiers did a big booboo last week and accidentally invaded one of our neighbors, Liechtenstein. This was quite an embarrassment to the Swiss Army, who had to apologize profusely to all eight people who actually live in Liechtenstein. I have not read about this incident in the Swiss press, but saw that it has been covered in papers world-wide, from London to Des Moines, which has led me to suspect it was all done on purpose in order to get a little free press and boost tourism. A bit like Bush did.

But why did these 170 soldiers, each carrying assault rifles, NO ammo, and a Swiss Army Knife with corkscrew, tweezers (but NO compass), cross the border in the first place?

1. It was night…
2. Large quantities of beer…
3. The out-of-date GPS system they were using was only accurate to 15 meters. And since Liechtenstein is only 14 meters wide…
4. The Liechtensteiners hadn’t repainted the black X-X-X that marks the border in a really long time…
5. Jack Bauer was leading the 170 and he NEVER follows protocol.

Rest assured that things will soon go better for the Swiss Army of the future. Son 1 and Son 2 will be part of it.

France, beware!

Last week, our just-turned-Swiss Son 2 got his first official letters from the Swiss authorities. One of the envelopes contained his tax forms for 2006. Not too hard. Just zeros across the board and a signature on the bottom of the last page.

He also received a letter from the Army. Every Swiss man must do military service. It consists of 4 months of boot camp, then 2 to 3 weeks of service every one or two years. And that continues till, more or less, you turn 40 years old.

If you are a conscientious objector, and can prove it, you can do a year of civil service. It’s just started up as a possibility, but I hear there have been many takers. You used to have to do jail time if you didn’t serve. And many companies wouldn’t hire you without military service experience.

The last international conflict the Swiss were involved in was about 500 years ago. There have been skirmishes within the borders, and Switzerland does supply the guards for the Pope. But for most Swiss, the military serves as a time to meet Swiss Germans, to live on 5 hours sleep, and to learn how to drink beer.