Being in the army, or any branch of service for that matter, doesn't look like much fun. Not that it's suppose to be a rip roaring good time, but it seems to have that bit of extra stress when it comes to being an officer. The officers above others make no qualms about being hardcore in bootcamp and constant training. Drill sergeants will tell you service is war, on and off the field. However once and awhile there are a few moments of levity. The new recruits are gonna fall down while learning and that can be a little funny. Can't it?
Redditor u/GluxDope really wanted to get a good chuckle by asking.... Drill Instructors/Drill Sergeants of Reddit, what's the funniest thing you've seen a recruit do that you couldn't laugh at?
The Geese....
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Had one recruit paying attention to a bunch of geese rather than us. Made him get up and chase them all away, as they flew in the air we made him follow them for several hundred feet to make sure they wouldn't come back! I was dying of laughter on the inside. Droncz87
TAPS....
At boot, it was taps out and one of the RDC's show up and was doing a walk through. it was just before lights out. He was going through the head and then a loud scream "Oh-my-gawd, get your penis out of your hand and out of my site, why the hell is your penis staring at me, recruit?"
'Taps' didn't happen as scheduled and I still talk to this guy X years later... also my bunkmate lmao. DarkJester89
Military Bearing....
I can pass along a classic Boot Camp story. I was in the Navy, and in the Navy, your final inspection as a Division is before the Division Officer. Which is usually some Junior Officer puke that got assigned that job, but we didn't know any better. Anyway, before the inspection one of our RDC's, that's what we called the "DI" in the Nav, found a locker out of sorts and decided to beat us in our dress blues.
That was not fun, let me tell you. Wool uniforms, if we lost our cover we got beat more, it was bad. Anyway, the DO rolls in for inspection, walks up to the first dude in formation, and he pukes. HOWEVER, this guy was a genius, he puked down the T-Shirt in his dress blues, saving the DO from getting puked on and US from getting beat even more.
The Division Officer was so impressed at this dudes "Military Bearing" that he called the inspection right then and there. 5.0 Sailors all around. We still got beat that night. But that guy was a hero. tasimm
Flying Crackers....
We weren't allowed to talk during chow at the galley. You had to point at what you wanted another recruit to pass, and they had to silently pass it. One recruit wanted a napkin and pointed. The other recruit asked "this?"
The CCs (Coast Guard DS) immediately came over, circling him like sharks, screaming at him. They made him put like 10 saltines in his mouth and chew until his mouth was full, then ask the first recruit if he wanted a napkin again. He barely could get it out, spitting pieces of cracker everywhere.
Then they screamed at the first recruit to answer him, but we were all silently cracking up. Sounded like this: "Phew phwant a nupkeen?" (Pieces of saltines flying out) ANSWER HIM!!!! (Cracking up, almost crying) "No...thank you."
It was the best. TBLCoastie
HOWL!!!
An RDC in another division asked a guy if he shaved that morning and the guy claimed he had. The RDC said "recruit you are either a werewolf or you are lying, so which is it?" The guy responded "I must be a werewolf, petty officer!" dnpinthepp
The Angry Water....
Not me but I had a great Team SGT who had a floater (wonky eye) that he was blind in from an injury in Iraq. So one eye was dead on and worked fine but he had this one Uncle Rukus eye that just did its own thing. He was a very physically imposing man with that classic Drill SGT bass filled voice and his crazy eye just added to it and he knew it. He told a story about his time as a Drill SGT when two privates had sat down on Firewatch and were kinda just being real lackadaisical about their duties when he found them.
So he starts just giving them the business classic Full Metal Jacket style, and finally he just ending his rant right before he's about to smoke them for who knows how long when one of the offending Privates just says "Drill SGT are you yelling at us or the Water Fountain?" It stopped him dead in his rage and he just walked away mid knife hand. TheRadBomber
Beat It! Just Beat It!
In navy Bootcamp they call forced PT "beatings." Everyone knows what a beating is. Navy doesn't have drill instructors they call them RDCs (Recruit division commanders). One day standing in ranks the RDC is going around asking random trivia questions about a test we had to take to make sure we had been studying. He gets to a guy who was eccentric, to say the least. This is about a month and a half into Bootcamp. RDC asks the question guys gets it wrong so RDC yells "No wrong, BEAT YOURSELF!" Literally everyone knew this meant start doing pushups so the expectation is he will start doing pushups as the RDC moves to the next guy to ask a question. I was standing across from the guy and he had a confused look on his face. He looked at his own hand for 5 seconds then hauled off and slapped himself in the face.
It made a loud crack sound he got himself good. I cracked and chuckled trying to keep composure at attention. The RDC looked to me then realized why I laughed had to do with the slapping sound. He turned back to self slapping guy and asked him if he slapped himself. Guy says "you told me to beat myself." Queue the entire barracks cracking up. It was a single moment during Bootcamp where the curtain was raised and a moment of unadulterated levity came over everyone. The RDC couldn't stop laughing so the tough guy a**hole persona melted away for a good 60 seconds until he regained composure and made us all do pushups. The pushups were an easy price to pay for that moment. Pencilowner
Johnson Who?
We had two 5'1" stocky blond guys named Johnson in our company one cycle. different platoons, no relation at all but they looked really similar, one day during grass week a couple J Hats made them face each other and go back and forth screaming "You're not johnson, I'm johnson!" "No! F**k you, you're not johnson I'm johnson!" You have absolutely no clue how hard it was to not break into a million pieces after about 5 minutes of that. lovable_oaf
Baby Save up all your tears....
I work at basic training ranges and we had a drill SGT yell at his solider while they were getting ready to go down a buddy live fire exercise. The solider froze and started crying. This 18 y/o kid was just in tears for getting yelled at. The DS yelled at him some more and he finally gave up cause this kid wouldn't stop crying. So he made him scoop tears off his face and put them in his pockets till he filled his pockets up with tears. He did this for like an hour. It was hilarious. racorr92
Polite Conversation....
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Not a DI but I enjoyed watching this happen. On hikes my DI's loved having conversations using the recruits as messengers. The DI at the end of the formation would send a recruit to the front to give the DI up there a message and back. They would either have stupid conversations or talk trash using the recruit. riceindabowl
The excuses people use to dismiss behavior range from mundane and meaningless to the sort of leaps normally reserved for kangaroos and Olympians. It's sometimes amazing that these excuses work - but they do.
Some of them work so well that they're just sort of "accepted." That, obviously, kind of sucks and is something we should avoid - so let's talk about 'em.
Can't swerve around what you don't see, ya know?
Reddit user TMTtasmachine asked:
What's the biggest excuse used for a-hole behavior that shouldn't be accepted as much as it is?
... and away we go.
Jerk Privileges
" 'That's just how they are.' "
"One of the biggest enablers for tantrum throwing, bullying, etc. is that they get treated with kid gloves to avoid dealing with them." - alexrt87
"Oh my God you hit the nail on the head. Whenever someone says 'that's just the way they are' I say:"
" 'Yes, that's the point! Glad you noticed too! Now is it okey-doke for them to be jerks they have special jerk privileges? Or maybe they are just people and should treat everyone else as such?' " - notatrumpchump
"It depends on how it's said."
"People are the way that they are, and you shouldn't be surprised when they continue to be that way."
"This, obviously, doesn't excuse it - but people also shouldn't be surprised when a bad person continues to make bad decisions. Neither should we waste space in our minds being bothered by it." - unlawfulfoxy
Harassment Isn't Humor
season 2 lol GIF by ShamelessGiphy" 'It's just a joke, bro.' Harassing people isn't humor." - loading__99
"Schrödinger's Douchebag"
"A guy who says/does offensive things and decides whether he was joking based on the reaction of people around him." - Eatsleeptren
"Dude, legit had someone come up to me and start shouting in my face, calling me Madison, pretending I was cheating on him. Literally the most crowded location outside a theater, everyone staring at us, looking at me like I was some horrible cheater while I was out with my then fiancé."
"I started hyperventilating, my fiancé nearly decked the dude, and then someone shouts 'CUT' like this is some big 'YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA' moment and everything's supposed to be okay."
"I burst into tears."
"It was the most humiliating moment of my life, and thank god my then fiancé, now husband is not the type to overreact or jump to conclusions, or be abusive. Imagine how bad that could have been for someone with an angry or abusive partner."
"Prank videos are a plague on the internet and there is a REASON so many of them are fake, or involve actors." - Darkovika
Stay Sober, Then!
Drunk Drinking Beer GIFGiphy" 'I was drunk / high / etc.' "
"Then don't drink?! Stay sober if you can't NOT be an a**hole!" - BasedBenjamin
"Alternately, I hear a lot of 'I'm a happy drunk!' "
"Yeah, according to your drunk a$s. That doesn't mean you're not an ahole. Not remembering is not an excuse either." - PepeBabinski
"I was that guy. I swore I was a 'happy drunk' - and I was. It was everyone ELSE who was miserable while I was happy."
"I was also loud, obnoxious, and I wouldn't remember sh*t the next day."
"Quitting drinking has been one of my best choices of my life." - TTungsteNN
"Help"
new girl coach GIFGiphy" 'I'm just trying to help you' " - Miserable-Air1234
"Every time I've heard this, they're manipulating me while helping only themselves." - mykittenfarts
"My Mom to a T. Everything she does is better than anyone else's and she always gets pissed that people don't praise her for 'helping.' "
"She's now a certified (by herself) psychic and I have come to the conclusion that she's not a covert narcissist but an obvious one. I really wish I was joking." - Silent_Discussion657
Parenting Problems
Leave Me Alone Run GIF by TLC EuropeGiphy"Any variation of 'I'm a Mother/parent.' "
"Had some lady cut me in line at a coffee shop and she hit me with 'I'm a single Mom of 3!' as her excuse."
"Ok? And? I was still here first." - maid-for-hire
"I'm a single mom and I f*cking haaaate when other single moms/parents pull that sh*t to get special treatment."
"Last week, I was having a rough morning, my kid was being difficult, and I was running late. I was rude to a cashier over a minor inconvenience."
"Not only did I apologize for my shitty behavior, I wrote corporate to let them know how professional and patient she was while I acted like a f*cking toddler."
"Was being a parent part of the reason I was frustrated? Absolutely. Was it an excuse for that behavior? HELL no."
"I acted like a b*tch, and I called myself out, and I apologized. I still feel bad about that - I rarely let things get to me to the point I snap at others." - ClusterfckyShtshow
"Wow. I'm a Mom as well and tired but it doesn't give anyone a right to use it as some sort of ploy to get away with stuff."
"Like, mice become Moms about 12 times a year. You're not special 🤣" - SpoonLoops
Believing Your Boss
The Office Monday GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy"I had a boss say some really racist sh*t around me one day and the next day, out of nowhere, he says:"
" 'Don't believe half the things that come out of my mouth!' "
"It was not really an excuse, more like trying to cover for himself after the fact, but still stuck with me." - sirlongbottom441
"Report them to HR. Seriously." - kokichi--ouma
"Looking past the racist stuff for a bit, that's not a very encouraging thing to hear from a boss…" - WonderfulBlackberry9
Bad Day Again
Bad Day Reaction GIF by Schitt's CreekGiphy" 'I'm having a bad day/week' "
"Okay, so you decide everybody that you interact with deserves the same fate? Get out of here, dude." - myordinaryexistence
"We all got stress, don't take it out on me. I get some people have stress bad enough for it to be passable every once and a while (family member passing, etc) but general, stress should not lead to you being a jerk to me." - willsimpforfree
"Damn, I'm definitely guilty of this. Usually I remember to apologize after but at this point I've learned to just avoid the situation in the first place by minimizing my interaction with people if I'm in a shitty mood." - nozzzrul
"Reminds me of when that White boy went on a murder rampage and killed a bunch of Asian women & that a-hole sheriff gave a press conference telling the media that the 'poor boy had a bad day.' "
"My idea of a bad day involves going home after a rough day at work and just staying in the house."
"Apparently, I should change my ethnicity from Asian to White and go on a murder rampage, see if my @ss gets a sympathetic sheriff to say on my behalf that I had 'a bad day.' " - kingkazul400
It's Not An Excuse
Season 2 Reaction GIF by FriendsGiphy"This won't go down well, but using depression as an excuse. As someone who suffers from it, it's still not ok to treat others like sh*t" - Rainbowwallstickers
"Could not agree enough. My partner has a 'friend' who treats everyone like sh*t all the time, has no consideration for others and openly mocks people in public."
"She gets so much grace from those around her under the guise of her 'mental health.' It's so infuriating watching an adult woman never have to take responsibility for her actions." - 34boor
"I get there are some things you can't control, but you are still responsible for keeping that sh*t in check and if you're aware of your mental illness, you should be aware of how you approach people and situations."
"I'll admit I used to be guilty of using my mental illness to be an @ss, but now I'm trying to better myself" - VeeSquibbles
Florida Gonna Florida
Looney Tunes Florida GIFGiphy"People are letting Florida off the hook way too damn much. And I live in Florida."
"Just because it's hilarious doesn't mean it isn't still completely f*cked up." - AlphaWhiskeyOscar
"The phrase 'Florida Man' is almost always followed some heinous way a Floridian is being an a$$hole." - PepeBabinski
"I'm also originally from Florida, and that state has serious problems. We need to pay attention to it." - [Reddit]
Moment of honesty ... as a Floridian ... yeaaaah, I'm gonna have to agree with that last one.