The "umm.. well..." you get when you ask a military brat where they're from.

What do Shaquille O'Neal, Jim Morrison, Christina Aguilera and at least three of your friends have in common?

They're all military brats.



How do you tell the difference between a brat and a civilian? Ask them one simple question, "Where are you from?"



The nonbrats typically will give you a straightforward answer, "I'm from Goose Creek." The standard brat reply: "Do you mean where was I born or where am I from most recently?"



* You're always the new kid at your school, with the funny accent that sounds a little like Alabama, maybe mixed with some California surfer style.

* When you spot another brat, you spend the first couple of days comparing notes, "Were you guys at Fort Benning? How about Fort Hood?" You left behind 19 best friends and counting.

* You told your date that your curfew was 2200 hours. You realized it wasn't going anywhere when he started counting on his fingers.

* What's worse than a 24-hour military clock is the acronym-speak. I got a new MOS (military occupational specialty) that's TDY (temporary duty), just hoping there's no need for an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit.

* It's not America or the U.S. or the United States of America. It's "The States," the place you really hope to see again if your dad gets stationed overseas.

* You learn to live out of boxes because when the military moves you, you'll get to your new destination well before any of your belongings. At least one item will be broken beyond repair. Smashing. (You picked that up in Britain).

* The PX (post exchange) or BX (base exchange) isn't the same thing as Target. Not even close.

* A word to the wise: Any kind of application that asks for everywhere you've lived or all the schools you've attended will require an extra page. Write small.



Our brat leaves us with some closing thoughts: "You don't have a hometown and there's no one place you grew up, but you've made friends with kids of every race and religion and learned firsthand about different cultures. You share a kinship with military brats everywhere."