Dear Doc Jargon,

My name is Grace and I’m 9 years old. I go to school here on post and my family is kind of new here. My question may sound simple but my mom said dad was stationed here at Fort Riley and now we are stuck in the boondocks with miles of nothing around us. I know there is all kinds of stuff around here because the kids in my class are always talking about what they are going to go do over the weekends or for fun with their families. I also took out a map and I couldn’t find the boondocks on it anywhere.

Can you tell me why she would say that? I tried asking her where the boondocks were and she just laughs and says look around.

Why are parents so frustrating?

Signed,

Grace in the boondocks

Dear Grace,

I can’t tell you why parents are so frustrating, but I can assure you they start making more sense when they get a little older and have more life experience – just give them time and love.

As for the boondocks, the word comes from a real place, but not near here. You see the word comes from the one the people in the Philippines use for mountain. “Bundok” is the Tagalog word for mountain. Tagalog is one of the two official languages of that country and their mountains were wild and isolated places.

The United States acquired the Philippines from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898. One year later the Philippine-American War would start and continue until 1902. American Soldiers would conduct operations in the Philippine “Bundoks” which they called boondocks and they meant the wild and isolated areas of that country.

So – fast forward to the other day when your mom used the word – she meant wild and isolated lands. These days, the word boondocks is used for anyplace that feels wild or isolated – sort of out in the middle of nowhere or out in the country. For someone not used to having so much space and not as many buildings around them, Fort Riley could look rather wild and isolated. However, as you know from your friends at school, there is a ton of fun stuff to go do around here. There really is more going on than you might expect if you’ve never lived outside of a big city.

Tell your mom to go download the Fort Riley app – we list tons of fun stuff to do there and I’m willing to bet she will start learning about great ways for your family to have some fun times while your dad is stationed here.

Welcome to Fort Riley and remember to give your parents time. They do get better with age.

Sincerely,

Doc Jaron