On Canada day 2006 Tim Hortons opened a bit of Canadian culture in Kandahar Afghanistan. A place where our soldiers can rest and reflect after returning from outside the wire.
This blog is in no way an advertisement for Tim Hortons, but rather in response to a letter from a reader in Alberta. Rex whom I have yet to meet is a retired veteran who cares passionately about our troops Thank you Rex for sharing this essay with us and a big thankyou to Jennifer Jones one of Canada's non uniformed heroes.
Tim Hortons in Kandahar , Afghanistan : An insiders view Jennifer Jones spent six months working at the Kandahar Tim Hortons. Heres how her stint in war-torn Afghanistan gave her a greater appreciation for our soldiers and our country. My alarm goes off just before 5 a.m. I pull on my bathrobe, pad down the hallway and open the plywood door to a gravel road and a line of large rounded tents surrounded by concrete highway dividers. The sun is already up, and hundreds of birds have congregated in the few trees to bid the morning welcome with their cheerful chatter. It is almost cool, but the promise of 50-degree heat hangs in the air. I walk over sand and gravel to the shower trailer. This early in the morning I have the place to myself, which doesnt happen often. The trailer is ripe with the smells of chlorine and disinfectant, and I hurry back to my tent where Im living for six months and change into my uniform. I put on sand-coloured pants and a shirt, my name tag and a desert camouflage hat. As I arrive at work, theres already a lineup, so I hustle in the side door. My coworkers are bustling about, making coffee and stocking cups. I grab a hairnet, put it on under my cap and take my place as the doors open. Not an average job This is no ordinary Tim Hortons. I work on the Kandahar military base in Afghanistan . The store is roughly in the middle of the base. In the centre is a large sand-and-gravel field where the Americans play football and the Brits play cricket. Theres a ball hockey rink right outside our store where we watch the Canadian troops play enthusiastic games of hockey in the sweltering heat. Other food outlets and stores line two sides of the boardwalk in the sand. The store is actually a trailer and in the mornings, with six people behind the counter, its a busy place. We rush about in a practiced ballet of coffee and doughnuts, calling out orders and dodging the bakers as they come to fill up the showcase. Sometimes I marvel that we dont crash into one another. The usual We can often tell what someone will order just by looking at the uniform. The Canadian troops usually just want a double-double, known as a NATO Standard over here. Sometimes we tempt them into an apple fritter. The Americans prefer honey dips with a regular coffee, whereas the Brits cant turn down a Boston cream or a Canadian maple. Theyre also partial to French vanilla cappuccinos. When the cappuccino machine is temporarily out of service, we almost have a mutiny on our hands. No French vanilla? a group of four British soldiers gasp and moan. What are we supposed to do? What will you do when you go home? I ask. Youll have to start a franchise in Sussex . Oh, well just order the French vanilla online then. They grin and buy two cans of the mix to tide them over. I enjoy seeing our regulars as well as the new faces that arrive all the time. Good mornin, mlove! And howre you today? one of the older soldiers from Newfoundland lilts. His face is tanned and his blue eyes sparkle as he smiles. I return the smile and say, Just great! And you? Oh, livin the dream, he laughs and orders his morning coffee. I know hell be back three or four more times before the days end. The Tim Hortons caps we wear are perhaps the most in demand. Can I have six double-doubles and a hat? How much for your hat, darlin? We hear these questions all day long. Conversation is mostly casual and lighthearted. Make my coffee better than his, one soldier jokes, pointing to his friend. Give him the old stuff. Are you still here? I thought youd be home by now! When do they let you out? Were prone to rocket attacks Of course, were the only Tim Hortons where the majority of customers come in fully armed. But by now Im used to the sight of a soldier with a rifle in one hand and a coffee in the other. Were also prone to rocket attacks on the base, and when the alarm sounds, we have to get all the customers out of the store and sit in the back until the all clear sounds. Theres a heavy thud, a feeling of impact and then the eerie wail of an old air-raid siren. Thats the signal to get to a bunker, or to the back of the store, if Im working. The first time I experienced this I wasnt really scared, but it gave a note of seriousness to my job that hadnt been there before. We sat on the floor and waited until the all-clear alarm went off like a British police siren. Some days are harder Because of the hot weather, we make a lot of iced cappuccinos, and I often dance a little when I make them. I sway back and forth, moving my hips to the sound of the mixer. I tell the customers it tastes better that way. It never fails to get a smile. There are days when its hard to be upbeat, though. Weve had six ramp ceremonies since Ive been here. A ramp ceremony is when we send soldiers home in the very way we dont want to in a coffin. Its a very formal event, with the troops marching out in formation. Those of us with the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency are put in our own ranks. We march behind our troops and take our place on the tarmac in front of the plane that will fly the bodies home. Other than the sound of marching feet, all is silent. A brief service is usually conducted by the padre, a military minister. We pray, then the troops salute the caskets draped in Canadian flags, which are carried high on the shoulders of other soldiers. A bagpiper follows behind. I dont think Ill ever hear the sound of bagpipes again without remembering these ceremonies. Sometimes I cry, a little for lives lost, and for families Ive never met. When we get back to work the mood is somber; soldiers come in with grief on their faces. They give their order quietly, avoiding eye contact. I can sense that tears are close for them. It can be hard to speak in those moments. Yet most of the soldiers appreciate our smiles and jokes. When we celebrate life, it helps us all deal with death a little easier. In need of a change I applied for this job in August 2006. I was wrapping up a contract job with an arts festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., processing donations and sending out membership packages. I was looking for something different to do with my life; something that would feel like I was helping out a larger cause. I didnt think I would get this job. Im 35, and although Im not married and dont have children, I assumed Id be bypassed in favour of younger adventurers. But I found a range of ages and experiences when I was accepted into the two-week training course. One of my coworkers, Chantal, 24, from Timmins , Ont., signed up because her husband is a soldier here and she wanted to support him and their friends who are serving in this mission. We work long hours, and there are no days off. By the end of a shift, Im tired as I walk back to my tent. My little room is home, for now, and though its only the size of small car garage, its comfortable. I have a bedsheet for a door and a curving tent wall above my head. When it rains hard, as it sometimes does, the tent often leaks. Missing home I miss simple things, like having a bathroom in the same building as my bedroom and walls that go all the way up to the ceiling. I miss picking berries and making pies and jam. I have a friend who recently died of cancer, and I wish I could have visited her, or at least called her more easily and frequently. I have even missed winter. But at night in Kandahar , I look up and see the same familiar constellations that hang over the sky in my hometown of Thunder Bay , Ont., and I know Ill be back there before long. I rest easy knowing that my home is where roadside bombings and landmines are unheard of. I have a huge appreciation for Canada I always did but this experience is magnifying it. Making a difference This job has given me more patience and shown that I can live through difficult circumstances with a smile on my face. I came here with very little understanding of the military culture, and I will leave knowing that our soldiers are proud to serve us this far from home; they want to make the world better for their own families and their country. For the soldiers, being able to feel normal by ordering the usual helps make their tour more bearable. Just the other day, a soldier told me, If it werent for this place, Id have gone crazy by now. So when a young soldier comes in and gives me a thankful grin because he can finally get an iced cappuccino after six weeks out in the desert, I feel that, even by just serving a coffee, I can make a difference. Jennifer Jones worked at Tim Hortons in Kandahar for six months. When she wrote this essay, she was a month away from returning home.
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Please think of our troops in Afghanistan and in other areas of conflict.
Red Friday Tomorrow please show your support.
Nil Sine labore
Robby
