One Man One Kit

Sometimes Google isn’t just stupid fast, it’s stupid, you know? Here, for example, returned in just over half a second, is the first page of about 208 million results for a search on “one man, one kit.”

Prtscrn of Google searchI’m pretty sure the meaning I’m trying to validate and originate (as it were) has nothing to do with stage-specific localization, Smad-dependent pathways, or spermatogenesis. Sigh.

One man, one kit.

It’s an expression I’ve picked up from extended family in the military. I’ve heard it after offering to help someone with their load.

One man, one kit.

This in lieu of, “No thanks, I’ve got it.”

And I’ve heard it from parent to child in lieu of, “You brought it, you carry it.”

So I flail around for a bit, adding different things to my search criteria: “expression,” “military,” and so on. Finally, adding “Army” is what does it. Bingo! Google finds the expression in the Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps Signals Regiment Recruit Handbook. Whew.Cadet Corps handbook - extract

And whew in another sense. I now have textual evidence that this expression is used in the Royal Canadian Army, at least, if not in the broader military. It’s a Real Thing that I can use as the basis for a blog post on its meanings beyond “Carry your own stuff.”

Do your own work.
Deal with your own problems.
Handle your own feelings.

I really like the generality of that summary: You are responsible for yourself.

But as often happens, I find something even cooler, tucked in before the rules on hairstyles (not so long) and swearing (not so much).

Cadet rights and responsibilities

As a senior, I sometimes wonder what’s wrong with today’s yutes. I routinely have to work my way around gaggles of young folks who are blocking sidewalks, doorways, and aisles: Are they aware there’s anyone else out there besides them and their friends? I frequently hear the f-word on the street: Do they care that there are grandmothers walking past? And I often encounter angry rhetoric about rights: An argument I wouldn’t have tried with my father or teachers.

So I was happy to see an explicit delineation of cadet rights AND responsibilities.

Now if we can just get the adults to buy in. We have rights, sure, but we are also responsible for a bunch of stuff, including ourselves. One man, one kit.

 

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8 Responses to One Man One Kit

  1. Jim Taylor says:

    All of us adults would benefit from learning — no, from memorizing! — that table of rights and responsibilities. And maybe printing it up on little wallet cards that we could hand out.
    Jim T

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Jim – Pop quiz later in the week . . . After a certain age (18?) we don’t hear much explicit talk about expectations, and less about how we’re doing. Although I think that David Johnston (ret’d Governor General) did and continues to do some of this for society at large.

  2. Tom Watson says:

    Isabel
    The other day a friend gave me a “Google Home Mini.” Interesting little device…and fun. It just sits there ready to be activated when I say “Hey Google” and proceed with something further.

    I just asked it, “Hey Google, what’s the meaning of ‘one man, one kit.” It responded, “Sorry, I don’t know how to help with that, but my team is helping me learn!” Sounds as if I’ll have to get back to you on this…whenever my Google Home Mini gets trained up.
    Tom

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Tom – 🙂 I bet it could help explain Smad-dependent pathways, if you asked.

  3. Tom Watson says:

    I’ll have to check.
    Tom

  4. Barbara Carlson says:

    My comment was L…o …. s…t i… n s …p a …c e…

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