23. Chapter – My first banane

I already told some stories about how my fellow Legionnaires did bananes. This is a story about my own very first.

Once we passed our first few days in our unit and went through the initiation week, we had to do our presentation for the corporals in the platoon.

According to the old tradition

the young legionnaire has to come and knock on the door of the corporal’s room. When he says “oui”, he tosses a pack of beer in the room and closes the door. He knocks a second time and when the corporal says “oui” again, he can enter and make your correct presentation.

I wanted to finish with this ritual as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to get in trouble because of such a stupid thing. So, I went to the regiment’s shop and bought as many packs of beer I could put in an 80L big infantry backpack.

I started with the Scandinavian and with the Chinese, because I knew they pass the biggest part of their time in the platoon. Once I’ve finished, I wanted to present myself to a Ukrainian corporal, but someone told me he went to the gym.

So I thought I will call it a day and I will start to watch a film, but before I will find a place for the beers to keep them cold.

I really think that I made a logic decision.

It was the end of March, beginning of April and in St. Christol it’s still cold during the night, so I put the packs on the window and went to watch a film on my laptop.

The next morning I woke up

I felt less stressed than I had before. I was getting used to my new place.

At 7.30AM I went down to the assembly area with my comrades and was waiting for the platoon commander. Everything passed quite quickly; I was entering in a daily routine.

I raised my head when I heard the adjutant in charge to present the unit to the captain and I saw my beers in the window of my room. It wasn’t just me who made this remark. Everyone in the unit was trying to keep his laugh back when they saw 2 packs of Heineken 10 meters behind the unit commander’s head.

Maybe you think it’s nothing, but rules are pretty strict in the Legion and the chiefs don’t like if something doesn’t go the normal way.

I didn’t get a real punishment for this. I only had to do push-ups in front of the whole company and explain in a written report why I was keeping my beers outside on the window…