Had CFCMI never existed...

[John Cady]

...or remained "off-limits", how would our lives been different?

I will start the comments. Had CFCMI been "off limits" when I arrived at Great Lakes, I would have never attended. I was a stickler for following regulations, and would not have intentionally jeopardized my career for something like this. I most likely would have remained with the Methodist church (I attended one in my hometown), or gone to either a Baptist or larger Pentecostal church.

Chances are very likely that my then-girlfriend and I would have gotten married at some point; before meeting CFCMI, we discussed marriage and that I was going to wait until after I re-enlisted and had an established career before taking on married life.

I probably would have advanced further in my career since I would not have been influenced by the CFCMI brass. I retired as a first class petty officer, but I might have retired as a chief or higher without CFCMI's meddling.

My relationship with my parents would be a lot stronger than it is, as well as with both my brothers.

I believe my life would have indeed been better.

[onetime]

Had CFCMI never existed or remained "off-limits", how would our lives been different?

As I was formulating my response to this thought provoking query, I realized the question is linear and cannot be answered if any form of Butterfly Effect is in play. What meaneth I?

Butterfly effect is a popular term for chaos theory where small changes in initial conditions in deterministic non-linear systems can result in large, widely divergent outcomes that are not predictable. Butterfly effect got its name from the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings could be one of the initial conditions that influence the formation of a hurricane or tornado weeks later. I know this sounds way out there, but there are many simple examples of the effect, such as a ball on top of a mountain can roll down into several different valleys with only the tiniest differences in initial position. In other words, had I not done A, it doesn’t necessarily follow that I would have done B like I think I might have done in hindsight. Unforeseen factors or conditions might have influenced me to do something else entirely, like C, D, E, or X, Y, Z.

That aside, and keeping this linear (and simple as John intended), it’s a good question.

A few responses off the top of my head:

Firstly, I would have more money today. The opportunity cost in my case was large. At the behest of the uneducated anus-loving child-raping jailbird Lloyd Ray Dingus, I emptied my savings account "for the ministry" and gave that dirty bastard all of my subsequent income during my time as one of the "chosen ones." (Shun da da bar!) Since I am a saver, the compounded growth of these monies over the years would have been substantial. After I had left and became a "child of the Devil," I went through some lean years.

Secondly, I had a budding female relationship or two quashed by Lord Penis Breath. What might have ensued is anybody’s guess (butterflies flapping), but it all worked out for the good because I eventually got the perfect girl for me. Still have her after 30-plus years. (And she still looks soooooo damn good too!)

Thirdly, some people whom I love would have never suffered from the evil abuses of the Davis family. Such as a promising naval career utterly destroyed in one case. A bad marriage and severe psychological problems in another case. Complete loss of a certain widow’s life savings resulting in years of financial devastation in yet another case.

I can say this: it would have been better for a great many people if LR Davis had never been born and CFCMI had never existed.

A helluva lot better.

[bramble]

Had CFCMI never existed, I wouldn't have lost a good friend to CFCMI. He is still there.