No! That makes it tempting to watch the pot; It’ll never boil.
You know, I mostly agree with your post and I have always found the whole (largely American) 'Thank you for your service" thing a little weird, but do you really not see how literally laying your own life on the line is perhaps a greater service than delivering the mail? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate and value all service personnel, but I think there is undeniably something a little special about the armed forces (and emergency services).
I also agree with Baker - that’s the best succinct summary of why we don’t have to preserve statues of distasteful people that I’ve ever seen, thank you.
The Bangkok cat was probably in a hurry to get away from someplace…like a restaurant kitchen.
You are dead to me.
Something a neurosurgeon is not supposed to say during an awake craniotomy: “whoops.”
It certainly has a higher degree of risk than most other vocations, to be sure. And if we ever get into the situation where they have to fight for our freedom, I’ll be cheering them on and be ever grateful for their service. I respect those who chose military service as a career, I just find the current patriotic correctness that the military are the only people whose service should be honored to be way over the top and it’s excessive patriotism and adoration of the military that opens the door to wars of choice.
I guess I’m going to be contrarian, but if I don’t need a lid, I don’t use one. Just something else to wash that takes time and energy.
See, I knew I wasn’t supposed to say it.
My wife, a hair stylist, occasionally mentions that that’s a rule in most salons.
The vast majority of people in the military never put their life on the line. Active combat is not the norm.
People who serve in the military can do heroic things, but being in the military is not heroic.
(And if we have to genuflect at those who served, we are going to include a whole host of horrific people, including several serial killers)
Fair enough, I agree. I lean very much pacifist myself.
Also true - although I think for most people in the military, the risk does exist that you’ll be sent to the front line, and it’s not going to be easy to just duck out at that stage.
I wonder what the ratio really is between military personnel who serve in actual combat duty (i.e. shooting at and/or being shot at by enemy combatants) and those who never do (e.g. quartermasters, aircraft/vehicle mechanics, supply clerks, administrative personnel).
What you’re asking for is the " Tooth-to-tail ratio".
For the US, it’s ranged from as high as 28% to as low as 6.5%, with much lower numbers more recently. Which makes sense when you consider the increasing complexity of weapons systems, that need a lot more support personnel who tend to stay behind the lines.
My brother served in the military during peace time. He was in Turkey and Germany, but there was no active conflict. They were training just as if there was war going on, though. A friend of his died during training.
Honestly, if you’re getting a craniotomy at a hair salon, it was a bad idea right from the start.
Long ago I was in the Air Force Reserves, to help pay for college.
I am happy to take the 10% discount at Lowes; but I do cringe a bit when it is followed by “thank you for your service”
Believe me there was nothing particularly heroic about it.
And as a transplant to a small southern town, I fully endorse your position on statues.
I can see a 40 foot marble obelisk dedicated to “our Confederate soldiers” out my window right now.
I think that’s probably pretty common. No denying that for those that want college without the debt, the military can be a great option. I’m all for giving veterans great benefits, I just think we’re a bit over the top in the hero stuff.
Thank you, yes. I’ve never really been able to put into words what irritates me about American fetishization of veterans and the military.
Also, aren’t there more dangerous jobs? Construction? Manufacturing? Long-haul fishing? (I have no idea, but it looks intense on those cable TV shows.)
I was curious, so I went and looked it up - the death rate in the military is higher than for delivery drivers and mail carriers, but not as much as you might think. The death rate in the military varies pretty considerably based on whether it’s wartime or peacetime, but is usually between 60 and 100 deaths per 100,000 personnel. It depends on the source, but generally loggers come in around 120, fishermen around 90, aircraft workers and roofers around 50, and delivery drivers around 30. Other emergency service personnel? Firefighers around 5 per 100,000, cops and EMS workers both around 12.
I generally hold firefighters in high esteem. ‘Greater love hath no man’ and all that.
As do I - especially the hotshots and other wildland firefighters. I’m not saying they don’t deserve respect, just that some jobs aren’t as dangerous as we think, and some jobs are much more dangerous than we think.