# Anyone want to see a pic of my backside? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626 "2004-06-16T07:43:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/1 "2004-06-16T07:43:38Z")
[http://www.army.lk/News\_Reports/2004/June/151.htm](http://www.army.lk/News_Reports/2004/June/151.htm) Top photo, I’m at extreme right facing away from the camera. Green polo shirt and tan combats. I’m standing in my 200th minefield so far – that’s what the tape is for. Go over tape, go boom. This past week alone, I have spent five days on the road, ridden in rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, spend 1-2 kilometers a day walking through minefields. All with a broken left thumb and a 1 cm deep glass laceration on my left foot. I work for the United States Foreign Service. Anybody want to join me? > **[Home - Careers](https://careers.state.gov/)** > >   Representing Americain a Career That Matters My public diplomacy work helps shape America’s policies and relationships around the world. I am diplomacy. I am America. Andrew, U.S. Diplomat/Foreign Service Officer, Public Diplomacy Career Track... i’ll be a little slow in resononding b/c i’m typing with a pencil, but will answer questions. ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/2 "2004-06-16T13:46:59Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > I work for the United States Foreign Service. Anybody want to join me? What, and follow a false God?! 😛 (Good luck and may you stay safe in all you do.) ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/3 "2004-06-16T13:56:02Z")
Now that is a nice butt. **False\_God** , how you doin’? And what **aankh** said, be safe. And thank you for what you are doing. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/4 "2004-06-16T14:13:27Z")
You’re not typing with a pencil because your fingers got blown off, are you? How’s the pay? ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/5 "2004-06-16T16:29:42Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > You’re not typing with a pencil because your fingers got blown off, are you? > > How’s the pay? Actually, the fingers generally don’t make it through an antipersonnel (AP) landmine, and with the types used here, you can pretty much count on a below the knee amputation at best. Step on an anti-tank (AT) mine and you’re a red cloud of mist. So far the program I helped put together here has destroyed over one thousand of the damn things, along with lots of unexploded ordnance. In under one year. Ask me about the time I saw a group of seven-year old kids with an 80mm mortar shell propped against a tree throwing rocks at it. Rembered my language training very quickly and said , roughly, “stop that right now and come get some candy!” Typing with pencil and thumb splint b/c of blisters, fractures and lacerations caused by a variety of things. But I did my job so it’s worth it. Pay is excellent, especially if you’re a young punk like me with only a BA and a willingness to serve. Your first year overseas you usually get free furnished housing, utilities, an R&R, two promotions, and roughly 7K in retirement money (matching funds.) Once you do two years overseas, then you have twenty, count, em’ twenty days of paid leave which are mandatory before starting your next training gig. Oh, and did I mention the diplomatic immunity? Email me if anyone wants to know more about landmines or the Foreign Service. \*\* leafrog\*\*, you’re welcome, but I’m not doing it for me. I’m doing it for my country and so seven year old girls don’t have to keep getting new prostheses every two years. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/6 "2004-06-16T17:41:23Z")
Holy shit, that sounds like a cool job (except for the insurance premiums which are probably sky high, no pun intended). Do good for people, hang out in foreign places, risk your life, make bank. What are you tours normally like (length, etc.)? I don’t suppose there are a lot of mine fields in Hawaii that need clearing. I’m sure that aside from the obvious downside of potentially being killed, being exposed to DU ammunition remnants, rebel attacks, picking up diseases, etc. that’s a great job. ---
**Author:** ![Anaptyxis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anaptyxis/32/3171_2.png) [@Anaptyxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaptyxis)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/7 "2004-06-16T19:19:14Z")
Darn it, for some reason I was half expecting that backside to be _nekkid_. I can’t have been the only one thinking that. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/8 "2004-06-16T21:02:04Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > I’m standing in my 200th minefield so far – that’s what the tape is for. Go over tape, go boom. ooohkay, I don’t see any tape, so I guess I’d better not apply for the job… ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/9 "2004-06-17T01:22:54Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > ooohkay, I don’t see any tape, so I guess I’d better not apply for the job… we’re standing in the middle of a large cleared area, next to a well that refugee families use for water (and had to walk through two minefields to get to before it was cleared) so the tape isn’t really visible. Yellow, plastic, about 2" wide, with the word for mines in all three languages spoken here and a skull and crossbones. That’s in the ritzy minefields. In some of the low-rent ones you just have string marking the cleared lanes. **Chairman Pow** , email me and I’ll give you the scoop. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/10 "2004-06-17T02:12:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I work for the United States Foreign Service. Anybody want to join me? I’d give my left boob to join you. But not in the mine field, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/11 "2004-06-17T04:10:52Z")
Allright, I admit that I came in here to flirt, but I must first thank you for the job you’re doing - rough stuff, that. Sounds rewarding, though, which I feel is important. And yes, you’ve got a nice backside. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/12 "2004-06-18T11:49:30Z")
> [@Cosmopolitan](#): > > Allright, I admit that I came in here to flirt, but I must first thank you for the job you’re doing - rough stuff, that. Sounds rewarding, though, which I feel is important. > > And yes, you’ve got a nice backside. 🙂 Yay! I got a response from Cosmopolitan! A Doper I’ve admired from the start! at least someone else is reading these posts besides me! Seriousl, though, folks, this is a fun and important job and you get to travel the world and help people. We need more good officers, and we need 'em quickly. Serve your country, make lots of money and do things that will make people’s jaws drop when you tell them what it is you do for a living. Join me… > **[Home - Careers](https://careers.state.gov/)** > >   Representing Americain a Career That Matters My public diplomacy work helps shape America’s policies and relationships around the world. I am diplomacy. I am America. Andrew, U.S. Diplomat/Foreign Service Officer, Public Diplomacy Career Track... ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/13 "2004-06-18T21:13:51Z")
That sounds very, very cool! What part of the service are you in? On that page, I see FSO, FSS, Civil service, and student programs. For what you do specifically, is a foreign language required? And in your group alone, how many injuries and/or fatalities have occured since you joined? ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/14 "2004-06-19T01:50:59Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > That sounds very, very cool! What part of the service are you in? On that page, I see FSO, FSS, Civil service, and student programs. For what you do specifically, is a foreign language required? And in your group alone, how many injuries and/or fatalities have occured since you joined? Foreign Service Officer; positions are language-designated “according to the needs of the service,”. In my officer training class , no fatalities, several injuries. And since the demining program I helped get off the ground started, 0, count 'em zero, injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/15 "2004-06-20T02:57:56Z")
Hey **False** , check the e-mail you have listed in your profile; I wrote you a missive. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/16 "2004-06-20T03:11:03Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > at least someone else is reading these posts besides me! Seriousl, though, folks, this is a fun and important job and you get to travel the world and help people. We need more good officers, and we need 'em quickly. Serve your country, make lots of money and do things that will make people’s jaws drop when you tell them what it is you do for a living. Join me… I did join you. Passed the exams, got approved medically, they said I was on the list and then…zilch for the last year. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/17 "2004-06-20T03:15:20Z")
> [@Cosmopolitan](#): > > Hey **False** , check the e-mail you have listed in your profile; I wrote you a missive. Right back at 'cha. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/18 "2004-06-20T03:16:26Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > I did join you. Passed the exams, got approved medically, they said I was on the list and then…zilch for the last year. Oh well. Patience, grasshopper, your time will come. Some of my classmates had to wait for two years. You’re on the list, just wait until it’s your time. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/19 "2004-06-20T03:27:10Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > Patience, grasshopper, your time will come. Some of my classmates had to wait for two years. You’re on the list, just wait until it’s your time. Yeah, but it gets irritating watching people get called up. I was very young when I passed - 22. Now I’m 24. Taking…too…long. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626/20 "2004-06-20T06:06:50Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > We need more good officers, and we need 'em quickly. Serve your country, make lots of money and do things that will make people’s jaws drop when you tell them what it is you do for a living. Join me… If the State Dept. is so hard up, why has the Alternative Examination Program been called off? And why does Grasshopper have to wait for several years? The CIA was giving that same shtick when I was trying to get in with them as an economist. They didn’t bother mentioning that they were getting over 2,000 applications a month. I would love a position as an economic affairs officer. I appreciate the job the State Department does. I could do without the spam. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-see-a-pic-of-my-backside/250626.md?page=2)