An old military mantra, the aforementioned 6Ps insure a degree of 'survival' to any operation or military unit. As seen during Operation Barbarossa, despite meticulous planning it was not 'Proper' as the Jerries invaded with vast quantities of captured equipment from France, Britain, Czechoslovakia - they did so with inadequate parts support and soon mechanised Divisions slowed to crawls as transport broke down, and they also decided to go and have a bash at Greece at the same time...
What does the above tell us? Well had they looked at the strategic situation properly, then they would not have found themselves in such a tricky situation with huge numbers of troops going to Greece just prior to invading Russia, and would have sorted out their massive equipment crisis which was threatening any/all offensive movement into Russia...
Why is this remotely important? Well currently I am making sure the 6Ps apply to my planning.
Recce
To go Stateside, its necessary to review what one needs to wear for the job at hand, saying 'Smart, casual' to someone from Germany is different from Australia. I mean if you are in an office and someone marches in wearing an immaculate suit, whilst the other comes in wearing shorts, shades and a barbeque carried over their shoulder - its quite clear that cultural differences in language play a big part.
I need 'smart/casual' stuff... so what sort are we looking at? Asides from the massive aforementioned stereotypes its tricky to know what to do, not least due to the cultural/language differences. So, I have started reconnaissance.
I decided to search online for 'Oklahoma City', no we don't mention that, ok 'Oklahoma City People', and found... well page after page of the same damned picture of the Fireman and the baby, yes I know its powerful, moving and Pulitzer Prize winning but it does not help me in my quest to find out what to wear. Unless they all dress like fireman.
Attempts to refine it didn't work that well... finally finding a university in Oklahoma's propaganda:
Ok... so what does this tell me about Oklahoma, dresscodes, and other such vital things. I believe that I must bring some heavy footwear, as it seems that there is less gravity here, I would not want to jump up and find myself spiralling off like in Santa Claus the Movie. If your mind needs prodding into remembering this (debately) 1980s gem:
Asides from the expected mix of hoodies which I dislike, (I always feel that they are too damned chavvy, a fleece does the job perfectly well...) It appears that the fellow in the centre is wearing a dodgy 1970s style jumper suited for a Christmas present from your Great Aunt.
If I was a conspiracy nut I'd be claiming the hands in the air were some sign of occult reference that would soon spiral out of control and destroy us all, but I am sadly not, and indeed frustrated by my lack of progress.
Frustration
With my search for intel growing tiresome and thin, and knowing that time is of the essence, I decided to go rogue, search for something so crazy, so ridiculously pointless that it may, just MAY work.
I searched for 'Awesome American Clothes'.
Now ladies and gentlemen, if you ever wonder what something means, or have a brilliant idea, do NOT use Google or any other search provider for it. Sleep on it, phone a friend, or ask the audience, as I will testify to accidentally finding out certain things that I could have lived in blissful ignorance of after a drunken search on my Blackberry.
This is one of those things, and you can decide for yourself how terrible it is:
If that is really what americans consider 'Awesome American Clothes' then I am in real trouble.
My penultimate search was for, 'american clothes smart casual' and this revealed the most exciting image yet.
Pretty much normal attire, with a smug grin, slightly iffy haircut and shades. I can do that. I think.
Final mistake of the day was to search for 'american clothes smart casual oklahoma' which yieled many result of:
Now THAT is a curveball.
Conclusion
I am now ridiculously confused, and pricing up a mix of a ty-dye suit, shades, slightly iffy haircut and a selection of lollies to chew on.
My University student card certainly sums up my feelings on the matter.
Will the 6Ps fail me? Will all this attempt at prep be a near disaster? We'll wait and see... anything can happen in the next half hour...
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