# On this board, are people who only know the military from SF always this tactless? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 3, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942 "2006-03-03T19:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/1 "2006-03-03T19:35:00Z")
[Looks that way.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=361369) **BrainGlutton** , I think you had a legitimate question about that novel in there somewhere. However, keep in mind that the way you phrased your question isn’t a great way to endear yourself to most of the people here in a position to answer using their own direct experience. That’s all I have. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/2 "2006-03-03T19:39:05Z")
Man, you military types are awfully thin-skinned, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/3 "2006-03-03T19:43:00Z")
Just **Mr. Moto** , so far. I didn’t see anything offensive in **BrainGlutton** ’s post. D\_Odds USAF 1989-1993 ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/4 "2006-03-03T19:46:43Z")
Really! I mean, he wasn’t asking if enlisted personnel are unintelligent, just if that is the common perception of them _among officers_. That’s a perfectly reasonable question, and he asked it in a perfectly reasonable manner. If you want tactless, on the other hand, check out my [reply](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7161421&posted=1#post7161421)! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/5 "2006-03-03T19:57:26Z")
Seriously, **Moto** : if you have a beef with anyone, it would seem to be Jerry Pournelle, not **BrainGlutton**. **BrainGlutton** didn’t write the book, he just read it and wondered about the attitude exhibited by the author. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/6 "2006-03-03T20:01:08Z")
Dude, chill. He was asking if such a thing existed, not expressing it as his own. You should read twice before pitting. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/7 "2006-03-03T20:02:24Z")
I didn’t see anything tactless about the OP - if I’d started that thread, I think I probably would have written a similar post. He’s made it clear that what he wants to know if officer’s opinions, at no point did he say “well, clearly they’re unintelligent”, even jokingly. What in particular did you find to be tactless? ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/8 "2006-03-03T21:07:31Z")
Yup, ditto to the above. It’s the subject line that’s in question – by it’s nature, it has to be succinct, and can’t possibly be riddled with enough qualifiers so that someone, somewhere won’t find it tactless. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/9 "2006-03-03T21:09:57Z")
If you note [my post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7161682&postcount=13) from the OT, it seems that **BG** can’t read, not that he has a bad opinion of the military. Nothing to Pit here. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/10 "2006-03-03T21:12:49Z")
Doesn’t \*\*BG \*\*live in Florida? SF = San Francisco. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/11 "2006-03-03T21:16:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Seriously, **Moto** : if you have a beef with anyone, it would seem to be Jerry Pournelle, not **BrainGlutton** … Jerry Pournelle? Explains everything. There are those who note the day he met Larry Niven as Black Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/12 "2006-03-03T21:18:14Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Doesn’t \*\*BG \*\*live in Florida? SF = San Francisco. 🙂 Heh. My first thought when I saw the thread title was that **Moto** was bringing up [the flap over the USS Iowa](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=331354) again. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/13 "2006-03-03T21:18:56Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Doesn’t \*\*BG \*\*live in Florida? SF = San Francisco. 🙂 Here it would mean science fiction. Another vote for an inoffensive question. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/14 "2006-03-03T21:36:03Z")
Stupidly over sensative. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/15 "2006-03-03T21:41:19Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Stupidly over sensative. I may be ‘stupidly oversensitive’ to spelling, but I otherwise agree with you 100%. On this subject, **Mr. Moto** isn’t worth listening to. ---
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/16 "2006-03-03T21:45:12Z")
And here I opened this thread thinking SF = Special Forces. Needless to say, I’m disappointed… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/17 "2006-03-03T21:55:31Z")
So, **Moto** , it’s amazing you can actually walk around with your knees doing that weird… whatever it is they’re doing… thing. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/18 "2006-03-03T22:02:39Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Dude, chill. He was asking if such a thing existed, not expressing it as his own. You should read twice before pitting. Actually, evidence suggests that he didn’t finish reading it once. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/19 "2006-03-03T22:15:02Z")
No offense for me from BrainGlutton question. I was US Navy 85-89. Jim ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942/20 "2006-03-03T22:36:17Z")
The OP here is inane. The OP there is unoffensive. But the thread title in the GQ menu _is_ suggestive of tactlessness: > [@BrainGlutton's thread title](#): > > In the military, are enlisted personnel supposed to be unintelligent? To which the answer is: YES! That’s why in the mess hall they always fed us stupid food for breakfast. 😛 :rolleyes: :dubious: 🆒 Yeesh. Read the OP, **Mr. Moto** , not just the thread title. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-this-board-are-people-who-only-know-the-military-from-sf-always-this-tactless/346942.md?page=2)