I initially read that as saying you literally worked inside an electromagnetic field. I was like “What do you do, hold a coil of wire and spin around?”
I knew a man who died a few years ago at the age of 97. We always knew that he’d served in Europe during WWII, but only in the last couple years of his life was he able to tell people that he had helped liberate a concentration camp. I don’t know any details beyond that, or if he even said any more.
The strangest thing people brag about? That they don’t read. I understand if somebody is dyslexic and gets their information from audio books, or if they have several young children and don’t have time to read as much as they really want to, but that’s not the same as, for instance, someone who says they’ve never read a book since they graduated from high school, and don’t read newspapers, magazines, or even online stories, truth or fiction.
I agree, that you,‘don’t read’, isn’t something to boast about, but plenty seem to.
My favourite has to be people telling you how expensive their, car, house, handbag, etc, is. I’m always tempted to ask, ‘Why’d you take the price tag off? I’m always left thinking, if you’re pointing out the price, you likely couldn’t really afford it, and bought it for the bragging rights alone.
It’s weird - usually when I see people talking about how much they paid, they’re bragging about how little they paid for something worth a lot more. I admit to doing it myself. Must be a cultural thing.
Next time someone brags about how much they paid, say, “Really? Next time, call me. I can get it for you much cheaper.”
“I know some people that know some people that robbed some people.”
—Snoop Dogg
I have a pierced appendectomy scar, which may not be a bad thing, but when I tell people they get a little weirded out.
It is from an non-dissolving “dissolving stitch” that I pulled out manually about a year after my appendectomy, and now, almost 35 years later the hole is still open. It is one of my party tricks to attract young women, by putting one of their earrings into my belly scar.
That last sentence may not, in fact, be completely true…
I assume the “don’t read” boast is based on an assumption that people who do read are all elitist intellectuals, and they’re not like those people. They’re good old blue collar salt of the earth regular folk.
My contribution is people who brag about having never traveled. A friend of mine from high school will proudly tell people that he has never been north of the Mason Dixon line, nor west of the Mississippi. (Nor outside the US, if it wasn’t obvious). Because the South is obviously the greatest place on earth, so why would he ever want to leave? I can understand not traveling because you can’t afford to, but choosing not to and bragging about it baffles me.
The one person I know who does this is a high school dropout whose net worth is in nine digits (he invented a device that turned out to be VERY useful for a number of years, and he licensed rather than selling the rights).
His flex is that I can buy and sell all you folks with your graduate degrees several times over.
But he’s a really good guy otherwise, very down to earth. Lives quite simply most of the time. And actually is very supportive and encouraging of kids to work hard in school and go on to university.
I was very briefly (about a week) in rehab for alcohol back at the end of 2020, and we called them exactly that: “war stories.” The staff told us not to tell war stories, but it was inevitable that they would be talked about outside of moderated group chat. I personally thought there was some value in sharing - helped a bit in coming to terms and processing where we were, where we are, and where we were hopefully headed, as long as we didn’t dwell on them and was the only thing we discussed. It certainly was helpful to me (though my stories were relatively tame) for a sense of perspective. Stuff like: oh, when that happened, I thought that was just funny at the time, but now looking back at these collection of drunk stories and tying them together, perhaps I’ve been having a dangerous relationship with alcohol for a longer time than I thought. When you’re a largely functional alcoholic, it’s sometime hard to realize what’s going on.
That may be true, but I wouldn’t trade my education for any amount of money.
Value is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I’m annoyed when rich people assume other people want their lives because they’re rich.
Irish!
The only ethnicity that embraces their stereotypes!
Having grown up in Western ND I can attest to this. Very unpredictable.
However, I spent 5 years in NW Wyoming…and, while overall more predictable, the extremes were different.
I once saw it go from a mid 70s day and no wind to like 20 degrees (F) with a hard wind within an hour.
First time I went camping by myself it was late July…pleasant…warm but not hot and BAMMM!!! Blizzard that night. Not a little snow but a freaking several inch blizzard! Only state I saw snow coming down in all 12 months. (never been to Alaska)
Colorado is the same at my elevation elevation. I’m sure Wyoming, California and Montana too. Heck any state that has mountains over say 10,000 feet.
My Wife saw fireworks while it was snowing on one 4th of July. I guess it was pretty cool looking. They have stopped doing any fireworks because -
- Fire danger
- Too many people come to see it and 911 can’t respond because of the crowds.
Fine with me, we just stay away.
We’ve been having this sort of on going storm that does not know quite what to do. Mostly a bunch of short storms that are following each other I guess. Supposed to get up to 10"s of snow tonight 
The last few weeks have been a bit unpredictable.
We even see this on this Message Board. Mind you, it is okay to have not read the book the show is based upon, but it is not something to brag about.
According to John McPhee, in Rising From The Plains, I-80 in Wyoming has been closed by snow every month of the year save August.
It seems that New Yorkers are proud of their lack of civility.
They see it as forthrightness, egalitarianism and efficiency.
I’ve heard of the other extreme - guy brags about how well trained and restrained his large dog is. gets warned not to go near someone else’s small dog by its owner, who knows the small dog doesn’t like other dogs being close. bragging guy lets big dog get closer, small dog snaps at it. then guy insults small dog owner for it.
well trained dog, poorly trained owner.
And on that note, I will nominate people who brag about not using technology. I know, they probably think of themselves as the last people on Earth who know some dying skill (eg. how to use a paper map), but to me it just means they refuse to change and adapt.
Good point.
True, for example- I prefer a paper book to an e-book, but I have used them, and have a number stored. (I have a small phone, so, reading on it is not great).