Hmmm. Good question. That’s certainly possible. It’s not like some women get turned on by military uniforms alone. “Women love a man in uniform” applies to policemen and firemen as much as it does to servicemen.
I’m honestly not sure, though. I was only in the army for four years, and I had a girlfriend for most of that time, so I didn’t get a lot of fieldwork as far as that area of study was concerned. After the army, I married my sweetheart, and that was a long time ago, so I’ve even forgotten what little I knew–and it was little.
It’s an interesting question, though. Who knows what stirs youthful passions?
I’m with ** Misnomer**. I have as much respect for our men and women in uniform as anyone, but I would think to myself that the person in question is an attention whore if I saw him. For those who see nothing wrong with it, do you at least agree that he was advertising his occupation? If so, does that really not strike you as odd? Of course you don’t have to* agree* with the OP; but I’m not sure I understand why some of you aren’t getting her point.
I would presume it’s like any “uniform.” Doctors, priests, nuns, carpenters, mechanics, salesmen, etc. Some like to advertise, some don’t. So, we are back to his motivation.
Maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t, but my point is So what? Why is this a bad thing? Why does it merit a Pit thread? Why is he a dick for doing it?
Lots of people advertise their occupations. Firefighters and policemen often go to in bars while in uniform (albeit, their dress uniform, not their duty uniform). So what? Are they not allowed to be proud about that fact? If I were a cop, I’d be damned proud. Most of those guys are proud of themselves, and they oughta be.
Once again, if the soldier (or firefighter, etc) trashed the bar and demanded special service, then that is worthy of being pitted.
But this guy wasn’t. He was just sitting there in a bar having fun, and as far as I can tell, he wasn’t demanding anything from anyone. Nothing wrong with that. Soldiers aren’t these mystical demigods who should refrain from enjoying themselves or showing off. They’re human. They’re often fairly young humans with what often amounts to a superhuman job. That doesn’t place them above you or me, but for crying out loud, let the guy show off if he wants to. He’s not hurting anyone, and from the gist of the OP’s rant, everyone else was actually glad that he was there.
Showing oneself as insecure enough to berate a serviceman for doing that shows more about the ranter than the target, IMHO.
Are you saying that you think this guy is making a conscious effort to use his soldier status to get free stuff? How would you know? Is it not possible he’s just proud to be a soldier? Guys have been wearing their uniforms to the tavern since uniforms and taverns were invented. I have no idea why anyone would find this irritating.
My husband wears a BDU shirt and a Vietnam Vet hat nearly every day of his life. I’m tired of looking at it, but I can tell you all anyone has ever given him was a Thank You.
A guess: The promise of a dependable, simple, tough commodity called US Government Approved Man, good for a rough ride and a traditional fairytale daydream of chivalry without all the complications and wimpiness of nonstandardized civilian males, and interchangeable when there’s some problem you can’t deal with.
Hey it worked for Princess Leia. Speaking as a girl, I kinda like the “scruffy look”. IMHO, unless it’s for some sort of formal military thing, and of course depending upon how the man in question fills out his BDUs (scrawny soldiers need not apply!!!), I like the somewhat rough “been working hard for you and our country ma’am” look of the BDU.
Dress uniforms? A bit prissy and fussy, though still hot under the right circumstances.
A simple "no it was Guy, not guys would have sufficed. People do occasionally misread things, it looked like guys with an S to me.
hijack: I don’t know why, but I can’t get my options to give me larger font. Maybe someone else knows. Why isn’t there a “Reader’s Digest” font for us old folks???
At any rate, there is no reason to get all snippy about it. I was merely asking for clarification.
I don’t think Misnomer is insecure in this case, seeing as she’s a, well, she. And I don’t think it’s a huge deal, I just happen to agree with her. I’ve not seen a cop or a firefighter in uniform patronizing a bar. Not saying that it never happens, just that I haven’t seen it. And I would find that odd if I did. I don’t know who these lots of people are who advertise their jobs as it’s not something that I seem to encounter, but it’s just a personal opinion of mine that blatant self promotion is tacky, and I can’t imagine any other reason to go out socializing in one’s uniform. Somehow this is turning into a discussion about service people and their right to enjoy themselves and be proud of themselves, etc… and that has nothing to do with the OP. She thinks a serviceman wearing his uniform at a bar does so in order to get attention and she finds this distasteful. I agree on both those points. No need to deify him or servicemen in general. The respect I have for them and the job they do is not diminished by thinking the man in the OP was being somewhat of an attention whore.
FWIW I agree with the OP, and I’m a guy with a uniform. If I wore it to a bar(I hate going to bars in any case) I would be too self conscious to do much good. Utility uniforms almost never look good on anyone anyway.
Again, I was merely musing. And stating “I don’t know what happened in your case IS a statement of giving you the benefit of the doubt”.
You seem to have a lot of emotion all wrapped up in this. I LOVE a man in uniform. I don’t care what circumstances brought him into my view, but I’m glad when it happens.
Even if this guy was PURELY using it for chick hunting, um so what? That is what we ALL do. That is, use what is out best “feature” for attracting others to us.
Now, as someone else has cleared up, it turns out that it is not allowed by army standards (I was Air Force and honestly do not remember), now THAT is a valid point. Otherwise it sounds rather hypocritical. If a man isn’t allowed to use what he’s got, in that guy’s case his uniform, to attract girls, then we shouldn’t be allowed to wear lowcut shirts and shorts skirts and heels either.
There’s really no difference, other than the military rule, which I am WITH YOU on!
Yeah, I see your point. I suppose that makes sense. I actually loved my BDU’s because they were so comfortable and work-friendly, but I always thought I looked better in my dress uniform.
Well, I certainly don’t see anything really wrong with your statement (although we seem to have different standards of what constitutes an attention whore), but the difference is that you expressed your opinion courteously and rationally.
The OP started a Pit thread, called the guy a dick, and generally got bent out of shape, because . . . Well, actually I don’t know why she got bent out of shape. She cursed him out and threw a tantrum when she was called on it.
If she had just started this thread in MPSIMS and stated “Well, this guy was out of line” and explained why, I might have read it, mildly disagreed with it, and just moved on without posting, but man, she just . . . I dunno. She was just so . . . prissy about it. Ya’ know?
Why does she care about this? It was absolutely none of her business.
I’ve been musing all afternoon about this. (Sorry-ass life, I know,) I’ve come to the conclusion that a man in uniform or a man spread all over the hood of a classic mustang with an apron on and nothing else, well, it really doesn’t matter, it’s the man, and the intent.
Most of us don’t have uniforms as part of our job. I can not for the life of me see what is wrong with showing that you are in the military. And so WHAT if the person in question is proud of that, and is allowing others to know it by wearing their uniform, no matter where that might be, bar, fast food service whereever?
Oh really? What’s the difference bertween tacky and cheesy and sullied but a few degrees of meaning?
Actually, we’re reacting to you way over the top reaction to the guy in the bar. Maybe you aren’t meaning to, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but you are coming off sounding rather shrewish and bitter, irritated in a way that has more to do with what men do to get laid rather than that he was in uniform.
Simple question: when you go to the bar right from work, do you change your clothes?
I have been known to go out right after work in uniform on occasion. Does that mean that I’m trolling for drinks? If so, I must not be doing it right because I don’t get any women on me and I have yet to get someone to buy a drink for me (I’m sure the wedding ring doesn’t help, though, nor does the fact that I am well known at that bar).
Get a grip, dude. Don’t be angry at this guy just because the women weren’t interested in you.
