Inherently Different

working day and night

I have a question for anyone who reads this particular post. First I have to set it up.

Let’s say that you are between the ages of 18 and 25, live at home with mom and dad, can’t afford to go to college and even if you could, you probably wouldn’t. Your prospects are few and your responsibilities growing. Then you see an advertisement for a job that is perfect for someone in your situation. The job requires that you pass some tests, fill out some forms and a physical examination to ensure you’re capable of performing the job. The job also requires a commitment for a certain period of time, but once that commitment is over, you can either commit to another few years or walk away. The benefits include free medical, free housing, free food, free financial advice, two weeks paid vacation per year, a decent salary considering you don’t have to pay for shit, and educational stipends that you can use when your commitment ends.

The job, like any, requires that you do what your superiors tell you to do including work where and when they tell you, as well as where you’ll be living while you do your job.

The major downside of the job is that it can be dangerous, possibly fatally so. Of course, when your job does become dangerous they increase your salary to compensate you.

You know all of this information prior to making the commitment to work for the company offering the job, but once you sign on the dotted line, you’re committed.

Now, let’s say that you decide to accept the terms and conditions of employment. You speak to your parents, tell them that you’ve signed up for a job that will solve many of your problems. Like any good parent, they worry about what kind of danger your new position might present.

At some point, you’re done training and you’re ready to rock. Then you receive your assignment and get shipped off to do your job.

At some point, you are killed on the job. How would you want your parents to respond? By flipping out and parking their crazy asses out in front of the company president’s home, harrassing him at every possible moment?

I honestly feel sorry for the American servicemen and women serving all over the globe. I mean, having some civilian questioning the value of your job is beyond the pale.

17 thoughts on “working day and night”

  1. Is that nonsense still going on? I have some sympathy for that woman; in so much as she must be consumed with grief at the loss of her son. I think her “cheerleaders” and those who have jumped on the bandwaggon ” demanding answers” are pretty despicable.

  2. What if your new company and its bosses made a slight mistake: they lied on your job description? While both you and your new employer understood that this new position may indeed prove fatal, your new company promised to do everything possible to protect you.

    They promised to surround you with sufficient employees to “keep you company” and provide you with all the equipment necessary to prevent harm from coming your way.

    What if upon your death, your folks not only discovered the lie, but watched as thousands of other kids joined this company without knowing the truth?

  3. Excellent point Brian… unfortunately, it is irrelevant. A company can tell you whatever they want to motivate you.

    EVERYONE knows what the company’s primary function is. The company has been around for over 300 years and has made its fortune through this type of thing. Anyone who joins it and then says, “I didn’t know this was going to happen! I was lied to,” should be removed from the gene pool as far as I’m concerned.

  4. Oh, Brian – Signing up for military service means just that , you’re in the military. What the hell do you expect your supposed to do? You’ve signed up to travel to foriegn places and kill people. They train you to KILL.

  5. Carrying on with the theme; it seems to me, and obvioulsy to at least two of you, that people joinning this ‘Company” nowadays spend a little too much time looking at the benefits side of the employment package and perhaps not enough time studying the job description.

  6. You are applying your intellect, logic and sense of reasoning to today’s average, volunteer army grunt. It’s easy enough to say, “Hey, if they were dumb enough to sign up, it’s their own damn fault.” It’s also very easy to make that argument in the shelter of a highrise in S.F. or a beach in …

  7. hahahah! Yes brian, but to be honest, if I was younger and had it to do all over again, I’d enlist. I know that seems odd given my “intellect, logic and sense of reasoning,” but I for one find the idea of building an environment for democracy worthwhile.

    And if it were my son or daughter over there, I’d not blame the President, however idiotic I think he is (which I do) for a decision my son or daughter made for themselves.

  8. Don’t get me wrong, Ed. I have no problem with anyone with an IQ over 100 making decisions that may end up with them being killed.

    What I do have a problem with is army recruiters trolling Backwater, USA looking for clueless teens who still need help reading Curious George.

  9. Wasn’t it ever so, Brian? The Duke of Wellington described his own solider as “the scum of the earth” and went onto to say that he didnt know what effect they had on the enemy but they scared the crap out of him…

    Maybe there is a different perception on this side of the Atlantic, or a different set of sensibilities. We want our soliders brutal, violent and not very bright.

  10. The military has long relied upon the uneducated and desperate to fill the ranks. Whether or not it is right or wrong to prey upon the ignorance of the population to wage war isn’t at issue for me… what is at issue is supporting the men and women of the armed services. Heck, if the woman who went down to texas to harrass the president about inadequate forces to do the job or asking the president to give them better equipment, I’d be right at her side… but to harrass the president for killing her son and killing thousands of other like-minded kids? Dumber than a box of rocks.

  11. To answer your question: “How would you want your parents to respond? By flipping out and parking their crazy asses out in front of the company president’s home, harrassing him at every possible moment?”

    No, I wouldn’t want them to respond that way. But at the same time I sympthize with any mother who has lost a child. I don’t think she has chosen the right path, but I understand the emotion behind it.

  12. and since this seems to be the only way to communicate with you lately…. i for one, would like to call bullshit on you saying if you were younger you would enlist…you, who defies all authority? ha.

  13. Let’s review… Getting free room and board, free medical, 2 weeks paid vacation, the opportunity to carry a loaded weapon, and a free pass to shoot anyone who disagrees with your politics?

    Sounds like the perfect life for me!

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