Trygon said:
Temptationist said:
Trygon said:
I know we have a few veterans, I don't know about active duty. However, they probably didn't reply to your thread as advertising one's service like that is usually considered quite tasteless.
Explain to me why advertising one's service is usually considered quite tasteless?
I'm genuinely confused by this statement.
My experience is likely modified by the fact that I live in a base town, but even walking around in uniform here is enough to get you the cold shoulder unless you're in a military hangout.
It's mostly because we have a lot of newbies that come through expecting the same salutes and pats on the back that they got wherever they went in Podunk, Kansas, and sometimes (surprisingly often) they react VERY badly when they aren't treated as the Second Coming. Someone who's opening introduction is 'I'm military!' and nothing else, and then followed up with 'See? Uniform!' puts me in mind of those podunkers.
You are more than one of the government's indentured servants, yes, Vulgrim? Tell us about that. Anyone can sign up to get shot at. What is actually
interesting about you? That's what I want to hear about.
I differ substantially from Temptationist in that they call your job a lifestyle, and I can't think of anything less healthy than to make your entire identity rotate around being a disposable asset for a human construct like a government. By all means, get in, get paid, get your benefits. There's plenty of admirable reasons to sign up for the military. None of them are better than any other job, and there hasn't been any of those 'better' reasons in over 70 years.
I mean, if I made a thread that said 'Any fast food workers here? I'm a fast food worker!' and then popped over to this thread to post a picture of my Wendy's apron, people would wonder what was wrong with me. Not everyone applies the same scrutiny to military members, but enough do that it's worth being mindful of.
- I'm not an officer, so I wouldn't and couldn't be saluted if I wanted to be.
- We aren't allowed to wear uniforms when we aren't on duty, and literally have I never gone off base in uniform unless it's to grab lunch during break (even then, we have rules and regulations as to what we can and can't do in uniform off base and rules as to how long we are allowed to be in uniform off base if it isn't an organized event).
And to be completely honest with you, military life is seriously different from civilian life. That's just a fact, I'm sorry, but it is. Me and you live very different life styles, we put up with different problems and different things, and it makes more sense for me to ask if anyone here is military than it does for you to ask if anyone here is not because %99 of the US population is made up of civilians and the military are the %1.
You're right, anyone can sign up to serve (well, not anyone, you can't if you're over weight, if you have disabilities, if you fail the ASVAB or if you don't make it through basic training, or if you have a criminal record), but it doesn't take anything special to be in the military outside of discipline, I don't think. If you don't have discipline, you won't last. You need it, in this line of work.
But you said it yourself, what separates us is:
- you're a civilian
- I am government property
Am I proud of myself for being in the military? Yeah, prouder than I was as a waiter or as a clerk. I'm an eingineer by trade now, since you asked, and no, I've never been shot at, but I have deployed to Jordan, and I am currently stationed overseas.
I'm not saying my problems are greater than yours, but they are different than yours. I posted here looking for military members to communicate, chat and RP with, because they understand things that nobody else would, like what EPR season means or what an Article 15 is or what Course 15 is and what I have to deal with on a day to day basis.
I also decided to get it out there, because often times on this site I get asked by some of my RP partners what time zone I'm in, and I tell them I am in Japan, they ask if I'm Japanese, I say no, they ask why I'm here, I say I'm military, and they either reply with an, "oh, neat," or "no you're not, stolen valor!" and I was getting really sick and tired of that second response.
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