So...colored envelopes?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Air Force Academy - Colorado Springs
1

<p>so what exactly is the deal when it comes to getting colored envelopes during beast? i’ve heard:</p>

<p>1- it just depends on the cadre
2- anything but plain white means death!!! (or something along those lines)
3- it doesn’t matter, just avoid the real attention-getters like perfumed, pictures, and such</p>

<p>my parents recently bought and addressed something like 75 envelopes with cards to hand out at my signing party to friends/family…i thought ‘wow that’s such a nice thought’, that is until i saw they were all either blue, orange, or green. i’d heard mostly that it didn’t really matter and i would have felt terrible telling my parents they couldn’t hand them out after all that, but lately i’ve been hearing more advice along the lines of keep it white, and it’s worrying me a bit. i’d hate to be the one constantly receiving the bright envelopes if it got us in trouble all the time.</p>

<p>any thoughts? thanks!</p>

2

<p>It really does depend on the cadre. Mine really didn't care. If someone got pink, they might say something, but wasn't a big deal. </p>

<p>White is always safe though, its up to you. Honestly, I think getting mail is more important!</p>

3

<p>How often are you allowed your mail during BCT? Once a week or something, or does it actually come every day?</p>

4

<p>All they'll do is make fun of you, it's not really that bad. Like hornetguy said, it's whats INSIDE the envelope that counts...</p>

<p>They take you down a few times a week. It varies week by week and what kinda mood the cadre are in. But mailroom runs were always a good time during basic.</p>

5

<p>awesome, i couldn't care less about being made fun of, but being the cause of extra pushups with every mail run might get a bit old. thanks!</p>

6

<p>99 times out of a hundred you wont have to do pushups, and even if you do, it'd be like 5 at the most...</p>

7

<p>Regarding what's inside, can you get away with photocopy photos? I.e. on white paper? I understand that glossy photos are not allowed but are "copies" OK?</p>

<p>And what's the latest on post cards? Are the cadre still reading them aloud before handing them out? Any limitations of what picture is on the front (obviously avoiding anything sexist, etc). Cars OK?</p>

<p>D</p>

8

<p>lmao, there's no difference between glossy and copied pictures. ;) They will confiscate any pictures you send. But, A) you can look at them first before they take them away, and B) if you're sneaky you can just keep them....as I did. </p>

<p>Depends on the cadre for postcards. Mine didn't read them at all. I got to keep mine with a picture of the Petronas towers. So, he might. But this is a very cadre-dependent issue.</p>

9

<p>Oh, colored envelopes are the best! When my sister was going through basic after enlisting in the Navy, I sent her tons of mail in really attention-grabbing envelopes with flowers and kisses all over them, and then I would write on every single envelope in big block letters, "Go Air Force! Sink Navy!" I pretty much raised hell for her. :) Oh, and not to mention the contraband that got slipped inside occasionally. Don't know how any of that got there. haha there's definitely bound to be some payback.</p>

10

<p>I feel much pity for whatever flight/squadron has redhead, they are screwed. She still has her symbol from her future cadre.</p>

11

<p>One little bit of advice:</p>

<p>DON'T open your mail in the mail room. Wait until late at night in your room. Just put it away as soon as you get it and hope they don't ask you what you got, and you can get away with keeping a lot of stuff they might take away otherwise, like pictures. Plus, you can save yourself some embarrassment. </p>

<p>But honestly, it's not something to worry about or stress over. Getting made fun of or doing pushups in the mail room is part of USAFA....you'll survive. :)</p>

12

<p>yea it wouldnt be any fun if you didnt get some crazy stuff every so often :)</p>

13

<p>one of my best memories from basic was when a girl i knew (who was told over and over to make sure the letters were plain white) sent me a pink envelope with writing and lipstick all over it. i tried to hide it, but a buddy of mine made sure the cadre knew about it. in the end though, they got a kick out of it, and our entire flight got a good laugh at my expense.</p>

14

<p>haha well i'll probably be a never-ending source of entertainment then, i've already got about 30 people threatening to do stuff like that :)</p>

15

<p>My Summer Seminar cadre told me about how his friends sent him a lot of random stuff that gave him a few laughs...including Victoria's Secret catalogues.</p>

16

<p>Oooo...that's a good idea...</p>

17

<p>my flight it depended on which cadre took us. some said grab it, keep whatever, we don't care. others if it was color the whole squad had to do 28 push-ups (our future squad "if we make it through basic training") per colored envelope. but honestly, you're going to be doing push-ups anyway, so have a reason to do them might at least motivate you some.</p>

<p>and i'd be careful with pictures, cause sometimes the confiscated ones get misplaced, and then it sucks to be you later. if you want to hide them, then whatever, but there really isn't a need to. i've never heard of someone dying cause they couldn't look at their family or gf/bf for 6 weeks.</p>