Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

Settling In 137another physically and emotionally was bound to cause friction. We’dseen some of that in the New Camp even when we weren’t so closetogether.One recurring issue at the Mud Camp revolved around the pigs. TheFARC had placed a little garbage dump near Tom’s hooch so that it wasaway from their camp, and at night, some of the camp pigs would rootaround in the trash—particularly around five in the morning, at firstlight. This would wake up Tom, who would then shout at them to quietdown. Tom didn’t realize that his shouting was louder than the pigs,loud enough to wake up Keith and me. Keith was very direct in askingTom to stop his yelling, which in turn pissed Tom off. He’d tell Keith toshut up, and they would part ways angry at each other. We didn’t havea lot to think about during the day, so the two of them would stew allday about what was said and the next day the pig fight would start allover again.It didn’t go like that every day, but it seemed there was always somethinglittle that was setting one of us off. Just like people everywhere,you put up with something annoying for a while, but you store awaythat anger or resentment for later use. You don’t realize that you’restockpiling things, but you are. All of us were or had been married, andwe all knew that fighting fair meant sticking to the issue at hand, butwhenever we were upset about something, some slight we’d stored upwould be taken out in the heat of the moment, growing out of proportionuntil it stank like a spoiled piece of meat.Part of the reason why Tom and Keith got on each other’s nervesmore than I got on theirs was a difference in personality. Tom was areserved guy, a true Yankee in temperament, while Keith was louderand assertive, a self-proclaimed southern backwoods redneck. Underthe best of circumstances, they wouldn’t have gotten on well all thetime. Tom hated tension in the camp, just hated it. He knew it addedto our collective anxiety, and so when he found himself getting suckedinto an argument or tiff, it made him feel even worse.