
Sure, a career in the military is a tough choice.
But that doesn't mean you can't have any fun. Once in a while punishment comes along with a few laughs.
Thank God for the laughs while you're in service right?
A serious career path like that definitely needs some levity.
Redditor ccohen_2023 wanted to hear a few giggles from service folk out there by asking:
"Military personnel of Reddit, what's the most hilarious punishment you've seen given out?"
Trash Collection.
I once watched a private collect exhaust samples with garbage bags in the motor pool and then run them to the 1SG to turn them in, definitely hilarious. Gypsy-Fitz
"WOO HOO I'M IN SECOND PLATOON!"
When I was in Basic Training, we had a guy who ran out of the DFAC and got into the wrong platoon formation. When the DS takes roll she notices the guy is missing and asks everyone where he is. We had only been in Basic for 2 days and didn't know everyone yet but she put us all in the front leaning rest saying we should know all our battles by now. A few moments later, a DS down the line starts yelling at some kid about him not belonging to his platoon. Our DS goes over and finds out its her missing recruit and he starts getting yelled at by both DS of them for a few minutes.
Eventually, one DS comes up with the idea that every time this guy gets in formation has to hold up his hands with two fingers up (like a peace sign) and repeatedly shout "WOO HOO I'M IN SECOND PLATOON!" until the DS stops him. He did for this a couple of days, maybe a week before the DS finally told him he could stop but each time he did we all had to stifle our laughter because he went all out and screamed the line with an extremely cheery excited voice each time. Independant_Hawk
MOUSE MILK MAKES.....
Watched a notorious screw-up stand in the quad next to the bell with in his t-shirt and boxers, his t-shirt tied into a belly shirt, flexing his arms and shouting: "SIR, MOUSE MILK MAKES ME MIGHTY, SIR". For thirty minutes straight. penny_can
Rocks Away....
Not my story but a guy I knew was late to formation so the drill sergeant says to him "Those rocks are looking a bit dark" and proceeds to have him walk around flipping rocks over and putting sun block on them for a few hours. an_iron_giant
Working Together...
When I was in the Army, I was a 155mm howitzer section chief (E-6).
My gun crew decided they didn't want to work and live together.
When we were training for section evals, the infighting got bad. I told my gunner (E-5) to get them on the same page.
That afternoon we have some fire missions that were timed. Again, they are screwing up.
We break for chow and I have an epiphany.
At the end of the fire mission, I decide that the problem had to be the rounds we were shooting. I mean the problem couldn't possibly be with the howitzer, and my crew said they were fine, so it must be the rounds we were shooting.
During our break for chow, I talk with one of the other section chiefs and he tells me his rounds were just fine, but he was willing to trade me his rounds for mine.
For those of you who aren't privy, a 155mm Artillery round weighs 95lbs and are about 2' tall. This will give you an idea of the set up.
The other gun was about 1/3 of a mile down and there were two other guns between us.
when I told my crew we would be trading our rounds for others, they grumbled, then started to secure the ammo track. Oh no! the track stays put.
My gun crew manually carried 84 rounds out of our ammo track, across the firing point, to the other ammo track. Unloaded and reloaded their track and loaded our track.
After 84 trips over and back, with the entire battery watching, I think we found a resolution to our problem.
Funny thing, that other gun chief didn't have the 1st issue with any of those rounds and somehow, I didn't have any with his. gunbunnycb
Yakima firing center 1980.....
Yakima firing center 1980. A cook, belonging our unit found a 155mm dud HE round. Thought it was cool. Took it and put it UNDER the propane stove in the Mess truck. For safe keeping. The first sergeant, while getting a cup of coffee on the tailgate saw it. He moved everyone out, made the cook, CAREFULLY get the round out of the truck and put down. Then he put the guy in full web gear flak jacket helmet and goggles and sent him (with the round) to the top of a very steep hill,1/4 mile off. Opneckbeard
Snip, snip Here...
Some folks in my platoon had to "mow" the grass. It took 'em all day because they had to use their fingers and tear each blade. TheAlphaCoco
My DI made my division do it with fingernail clippers and a ruler. Lol. bigboog1
Bam. Bam.
During my training, one portion of it required an obstacle course. For one of the puzzles you had to lay down wooden planks across platforms and bring a wheel barrel across them. Seems easy but there weren't enough planks and you had to get creative. One guy layered down a plank, walked across it and it snapped a good portion off. The instructors ganged up on him because he broke "government property."
As punishment, for the rest of the duration of the course (5 weeks) wherever he went he had to bring the portion of wood he broke off. Bathroom. Chow. Swimming pool. Ruck. Everywhere. We decorated it and wrapped some duct tape to make a handle. The best part is this guy is close to 5 feet tall. So the instructors called him Bam Bam. scrublord420_1738
You are m y Sunshine...
My personal favorite was sweeping sunshine. Someone, usually a private, pisses off a superior, but not in such a serious enough fashion that they have to involve UCMJ. If they really annoyed someone, they're usually told to get in full battle rattle (armor, helmet, pads, the full 9). Once they report in, they're given broom and are ordered to sweep the sidewalk until there's no more sunshine on it. As you can probably expect, this is going to be a very long day. Madrojian
Signs Up.
While deployed @ camp Fallujah, two Marines got caught speeding in a clapped out Iraqi car. Their punishment was to hold sign that said slow down. pic
Most punishments I saw outside of NJPs were just straight up physical punishment and were only funny because I was not getting punished. truss84
Skuzzbrush ....
Skuzzbrush (sp?) - noun - little hand brush they give you in Marine bootcamp to clean the floors.
Our drill instructors made one of the recruits push the brush as fast as he could across the squad bay floor- back and forth - without anything other than his feet touching the ground. This was completely normal and a daily occurrence for all of us. The difference this time was this recruit was caught laughing.
So he was forced to clean the floors alone; with all of the platoon watching from "on the line"...while he was required to scream "WEEEEEE" in a loud girly falsetto voice for like 15 minutes. It started out hilarious, but he got tired quick and it got hard to watch.
"STOP! NOW LAY AN EGG"
One Sunday during bootcamp we were supposed to be cleaning the barracks, so naturally, nobody was doing anything. One of the guys in my platoon got up on one of the footlockers and was squatting on top of it and started saying "Yo, check it out I'm a bird". At that moment we heard "AT EASE" as a Drill Sergeant walked in, gaze transfixed on this dude still squatting on top of the footlocker. Drill Sergeant says to him "Okay you wanna be a bird, huh? Get down here".
Dude hops off and the DS makes him run around the barracks squawking like a bird. Mid-flight the DS stops him and says "STOP! NOW LAY AN EGG" so the dude promptly squats down and lets out the FATTEST fart I've heard in a long time. There was not a single soul in those barracks that wasn't dying. A million push-ups from everyone immediately followed. kevingo8450
SUCK IT UP!!!
There was this dude who failed field day (where your barracks room has to be inspection ready) due to the inspecting SNCO finding dust.
During the next formation after we broke into our squads for PT, I saw his squad leader hand him a vacuum cleaner. When they stepped off to go on 5 mile run, they started singing cadence..."AAAHHHHH SUCK IT UP!! (SUCK IT UP)!!!! SUCK IT UP!!! (SUCK IT UP)!!!" Nukular-Weapons
"integrated division"
I was in an "integrated division" during boot camp, meaning we had men and women in our division. We had separate barracks across the hall from one another, and because the RDCs (instructors) could be in either one, and you had men and women coming and going to speak with them, we had a strict rule about always having at least the PT uniform (shorts, t shirts, and tennis shoes) on unless you were in the head (bathroom/showers).
One guy forgot, and walked out of the showers with his shirt tossed over his shoulder and Senior Chief saw him before he got to his bunk.
"I'M FABIO, LOOK AT ME!"
"HOLY CRAP RECRUIT. YOU MUST THINK YOU'RE MODEL OR SOMETHING. WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO STRUT ACROSS MY DAMN DECK?"
He took a plain white undershirt, drew fake abs and chest hair on it, and made the guy march up and down the halls shouting "I'M FABIO, LOOK AT ME" for a half hour before making him do mountain climbers until we went to mess. ShoddyBiscotti1
RIP... Private Dustin.
When i was on BMQ my roommate had a decent sized dust bunny under his bed. leadership made him name it, preserve it and have it inspection ready every morning.
RIP... Private Dustin. jeffrk
These are stories from another similar thread, but they are too good not to share.
One was a guy who's DI caught him swatting a spider. He was made to dig a 6' deep human sized grave, bury the spider, and had to write a one+ page letter to the spiders parents on why their son would not be coming home.
The other was a guy who got caught with skittles and had to dig a 1'X1'X1' hole for each skittle and bury them all. Then, for the next week (or month?), had to wake up a half hour earlier than everyone else so he could go water his skittle plants every morning. crapiforgotmypasword
So Many....
A couple spring to mind:
- Someone carrying a potted plant with them everywhere they went to replace the oxygen they were wasting.
- Carrying a rock around everywhere they went to replace the ID card they lost.
I'm sure there are others I am forgetting, but these are the first I thought of. KosherCowboy0932
"SOUR SKITTLES MASTER CORPORAL"
We had a drawer in our locker that was supposed to be for something that's important to you. After a while you start running out of stuff that you feel strongly towards but this one guy put in a bag of sour skittles. Inspection time comes around and the staff opens the drawer.
"What the heck is this!?"
"SOUR SKITTLES MASTER CORPORAL"
"THIS IS WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU!?"
"YES MASTER CORPORAL"
"WELL YOU BETTER TRAIN IT UP THEN"
So the guy had to stand there with the bag of sour skittles and shout drill commands at it for the rest of the inspection. He'd shout "RIGHT TURN" then turn the bag to the right, throw in some left turns and about turns. Took everything in me not to crack up every time he would do it. frontpagepirate1
Not Anymore!!!
In Navy boot camp, the recruit master-at-arms is responsible for the overall cleanliness of the barracks.
During a massive shakedown of the entire company, our master-at-arms (and Navy SEAL candidate) had to go down the line and yell at each one of us "THESE FLOORS ARE DIRTY AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!" while we stood there, straight-faced. mwatwe01
Scissorhands.....
Two people sharing a pair of scissors cutting grass. Each person holds on handle and work together. OneNightStandKids
We can't say that's the easiest way to cut grass but it certainly is HILARIOUS.
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We may not like it, but getting older is pretty inevitable.
With age may come wisdom, but it also comes with lots of responsibilities.
And some days, we're just over it.
Redditor brick_layer asked:
"What tasks are you tired of doing as an adult?"
Decisions, Decisions
"Deciding what to make for dinner."
- PortiaEss
"I would eat people kibble if it tasted good. Bachelor Chow (just add beer) needs to be a real thing."
- chaos8803
Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho
"Going to work and acting like a functional person."
- ovelanimimerkki
"Yep, I hate trying to work when I'm not emotionally stable or just exhausted. And you literally can't tell anyone or they tell you to go get a coffee which just makes the week go downhill over time."
- gg_ff_42069
Manners
"Being polite to other adults who don't deserve it."
- 25_-a
"Also known as the 'I am too old for this sh*t' phase of life."
- Zintao
Cleaning
"Cleaning the fridge. 🤢 when I find something way in the back that’s been forgotten."
- joydobson
"I finally cleaned out ours today because it was trash day, and the husband isn’t home to argue with me about how that sauce from 2015 is 'still good!!' 🤨 Now I have an empty fridge with just the bare essentials. Worth it."
- Grizelda_Gunderson
Circle of Life
"Working. Paying bills. Getting up early. Doing stuff."
- guyfromcroswell
"Agreed. Such a mundane cycle indeed."
- Emotional_Ratio_3251
Is Naked So Bad?
"Laundry grrrrr."
- FewPizza7880
"I tend to put the laundry in, hear it beep, forget about it for 6 hours then remember it needs to dry."
- marvel_is_wow
Traffic
"Anticipating the morons on the roads that change lanes without signaling."
"Or merging into 70mph traffic while doing 45..."
- haveyouseenthebridge
"Or being stuck behind those people as we're merging, I get pissed. Like speed up to the flow of traffic, being behind them merging puts me in danger too."
- Nigel_IncubatorJones
Maintenance
"Buying a house is an endless list of shit that needs fixing or improving."
- muffbiscuits
"This is one of the many reasons I bought a condo. The majority of the maintenance is somebody else’s problem. I haven’t cut grass, raked leaves or shoveled snow in almost a decade."
‐ yogaballcactus
Teeth
"Brushing my teeth. It's annoying."
- scottevil110"
"I feel this deep. It’s flossing for me."
- brick_layer
"Wait until you're in your 60s and all of a sudden the perfect teeth that never even had a cavity now all of a sudden have tiny cracks and need porcelain crowns and you have constant pain and Delta Dental only covers cleanings and x-rays and a single crown is like $1500 and they're telling you that you need four and you think, well, we don't really need two cars, I could sell my old Subaru."
- Nobody_Wins_13
Alarming
"Waking up to an alarm clock."
"I've been waking up to an alarm clock almost every day since 1985, and I'm fucking tired of it."
"I want to wake up when I'm done sleeping."
"I don't want to wake up and find that I've slept through/turned off my alarm(s) yet again, and have to choose between packing a lunch and taking a shower."
- thisbuttonsucks
What part of adulthood are you tired of?
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I would love to know how people don't fear death.
I mean, it's the end. Life will be over. That kind of sucks.
Yet there are people who find tranquility in it.
Can you teach the rest of us?
Redditor deensuk wanted to hear from everyone who has a calmness about the heading to the afterlife. They asked:
"People who are not scared of death, why?"
I have a constant fear of death. I wanna perfect the ending of "Death Becomes Her" so I can live forever.
Before
"I'm not scared of death because of working in health care I was around it so much. I AM scared of what leads to death, however."
Full-Mulberry5020
Why now?
"Why should I be scared now of something that's only going to happen at the end of my life?"
User Deleted
"I did this cult thing called the landmark forum and I actually did like their “meaning of life”: the meaning of life is that there is no meaning. Life is empty and meaningless. There is no answer."
"Life is what you make of it and every persons answer is equally valid because there is no meaning to life. Life exists as, basically, an accident, we are all here by complete accident, there’s no great mystery, it’s all biology and you are 100% free to make life about whatever it is you want."
Conservative_HalfWit
Death and I are good friends...
"I was very sick as a child. Spent ages 7-20 in and out of hospital due to kidney issues. Lost a kidney at 28. Almost died during the surgery to removed the dead kidney due to blood loss. Had 5 surgeries back to back during the next 2 years. Twice they had difficulties bringing me out of anesthesia."
"Found my favorite aunt dead in her bed when I was 22. Watched my best friend die from a brain tumor at 30. Death has been a constant force in my life. Sometimes just on the edges waiting, sometimes unexpected staring me in the face. I'm not afraid because it's always been there. I now work in healthcare. Death and I are good friends."
Tiny_Teach_5466
No Worries
"Because it's coming for us all, sooner or later. So there's no point in worrying about it. I am much more concerned about day to day minutiae. The Lars von Trier film Melancholia starring Kirstin Dunst portrayed this perfectly. If there was an asteroid hurtling towards the earth, I'd probably be more preoccupied with worrying about whether I left the back light on or not."
Giallo_submarine
It's Over
"Because no one has ever made it out alive, and I was dead for an eternity before I was alive, and didn't suffer the slightest inconvenience because of it."
MarshallApplewhiteDo
I never thought about the before much. I hope the before is quick.
The Effects
"I hope that when my times comes it will be merciful. My uncle had a stroke, he is paralyzed. My grandmother is 91, but is losing all her memories of her life. Death does not scare me, what could be left of me before I die is what terrifies me."
M1ssy_M3
No Terror
"It’s like when the writer Nabokov said that he saw a picture one time, a picture of before he was born. It was a picture of his mother, his brother and sister that were older than him, but he had not been born yet. He said that when he saw that picture there was no terror in him, even though he was looking at a picture where he didn’t exist."
im_on-the_can
state of nonexistence...
"I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of dying. Death is just the state of nonexistence I experienced before I was born. I don't remember it because I didn't exist yet. Death will be the same way. I just don't want the transition to be marked by pain and sorrow at things left unfinished. I want it to be quick, painless, and with me surrounded by love."
Wazula42
I'm Gone...
"Because once I die, I won't know it. I won't miss people or regret things or feel pain or sadness about anything. I might fear being sick and slowly dying, just having to live with the knowledge that it's all going to end and this is the last time I'll ever see the people I love or taste good food or hear good music. That sounds almost unbearable. But death isn't even a thing, it's just having done something (died)."
"It's like virginity, it's a made-up state of being that just says whether or not you've experienced a specific occurrence. Once I die, I'm gone. My corpse will be the empty wrapper I used to be in, just garbage to be disposed of in whatever way makes my survivors feel better. I'll be switched off. If I don't worry about what the light feels after the bulb burns out, why would I be afraid of being dead?"
SallyHeap
At Peace
"I’m scared now because I have young kids. Once my kids are old enough to be on their own I imagine the fear will subside and I’ll have a more relaxed approach."
User Deleted
Some very interesting perspectives. May it all calm peacefully and with great mercy for us all.
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Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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