OK, used to be my least favorite t-shirt slogan was “Navy Wife: Toughest Job In The Navy.” I hated this slogan when I was a young sailor and, later, when I was myself a Navy Wife. First of all, ‘Wife’ isn’t a job in the Navy. Second of all, a ‘Navy Wife’ isn’t in the Navy. Thirdly, try telling the sailors who were blown up on the Cole; or burned to death on the Forrestal; or who are just enjoying a typical deployment (16 hour work days: nothing much fun to do when you do have time off; narrow bunks, short showers, and mediocre food) that staying home safe and comfy is ‘tougher’ than their job. Stupid, stupid slogan.
But today I saw a worse one. They had a kiosk with t-shirts set up at the Exchange. The slogan? “My Daddy’s in the Navy; what’s yours do?” In lots of versions – ‘My Mommy…’, ‘My Grandpa…’, and so on. My eyes were rolling 'til they rattled.
Look, I’m a very patriotic person from a family full of veterans. I like and respect most of the military people I meet (and I meet a lot of them). I understand the sacrifices they make, and am grateful to them for their service.
But those t-shirts? Obnoxious, confrontational, and fucking rude. Just the stupidest things I’ve seen all week.
To me, the bumper stickers (and maybe T-shirts too?) that just say “My ______ is in the [insert DOD branch]” are the worst, because they don’t even tell you why they think you should fellate the driver’s relative in question; they just assume you agree that anyone related to a servicemember is objectively better than you.
When Mr. SCL was in the Army, I actually received a certificate of some sort when he reenlisted. I have no idea what happened to it; so it’s pretty obvious how much it meant to me. Waste of paper.
And what’s with these “I’m with Stupid” t-shirts? Why, “Stupid” is a rare enough name that the chances of you standing next to someone with that monicker are infinitesimal! And if the word “stupid” is referring to the person’s intellect, I’ll have you know that I spent the better part of the 1980s administering random IQ tests to the people standing next to those wearing this shirt that I saw in public. Would you believe that their scores tended to be average?! For shame, t-shirt manufacturers, for shame!
One of these days I’ll have a shirt made that says: Join Starfleet and See the Universe!
Travel to Faraway Star-Systems
Encounter Fascinating Lifeforms
And Kill Them
While “Stupid,” as a name on ones birth certificate, is rare, I know many people (and animals) who answer to it. As for the OP, I too have a problem with people whose clothing shows they are basking in the glory reflected from their loved ones rather than glory they have earned themselves. Personally, I would be as likely to wear a shirt that attempted to pull the blanket of credit earned by my father in WWII as I would be to wear one that said “In 1972 I was 18 but made no effort to fight in Vietnam. Honor me for that.”
My favorite says, “Buy American,” on a car or, usually, a truck that is more than a few years old. Dude, if you are buying parts for that clunker you are probably buying parts made overseas. The “patriotic” bumpersticker would be, “Buy a New American Car Every Year,” but even that could mean buying a car built in Canada.
Or Mexico. Try dropping that bit of knowledge on Jingo Starr and see if he goes apoplectic. “You drive a Chevy? Good for you! You’re giving hard-working Mexicans jobs!”
Well, if you’re talking about “stupid” t-shirts, I honestly don’t remember if I saw this somewhere or dreamed it up, but I want a t-shirt that says “I’m with Stupid”, but the arrow points down.
I’m not sure how that was meant, but if the situation fit me, I might actually wear that. And I’m not a dove. I’m just sick to death of people letting the government decide their morals, like whether to fight in a war. I don’t excuse any of the Axis armies, and I don’t care what they say. Yes, it would have been better for your entire family to be in prison than for you to fight for those incredible a-holes.
Yeah! Like those, “My kids’s on the honor roll at Whatsis Elementary.” You’re totally supposed to fellate the driver’s relative in question, and anyone related to an honor roll student is objectively better than you.
I don’t mind those – in fact, I have a "my son is in the Navy’ sticker, and also a ‘Sweet Briar Parent’ sticker for my daughter. It’s just a statement of pride and doesn’t carry any approbation to those who are not in the military, or not attending my daughter’s college.
It’s the ‘what’s your Daddy do?’ part that is so obnoxious, because it indicates clearly that, in the wearer’s opinion, whatever it is your Daddy does isn’t going to measure up.
Anyway – the shirts were even worse than I remembered. They actually said, ‘My [Daddy] is defending our country; what’s yours do.’ Fuckinf obnoxious.
