It takes a peculiar kind of person to be a service member, either enlisting in the military or choosing to serve as a member of the police force. You lay your life down on the line to make sure others get the chance to live theirs. Sometimes, seeing that side of society can change you.
Reddit user, u/sleafordbods, wanted to know:
Just A Couple Of Quickies
Most people are not suited to authority. The more they have, the more they abuse it. Both genders.
Most people aren't that smart, and the dumber they are, the dumber they think smart people are.
Men are cruel. Women are wicked.
Groupthink is real, is everywhere, and is dangerous.
What? The Government's Wasteful?
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The government truly is staggeringly wasteful. I mean just truly wasteful on a scale that boggles the mind.
I'm certain we could field a more capable military with half the annual money ($350B instead of $700B) if we didn't just thrown the money away on redundant hardware that is manufactured and exists solely to provide jobs in specific congressional districts, inefficient logistics, gas and oil, etc.
You Say Only What You Have To Say
"Thank you for your service" and my response "Thank you for your support" is really just an obligated, scripted back and forth that usually means nothing to either party.
I know there's no ill intent meant by it, but I feel like 90% of the time, people say it when they feel like they have to, not because they feel genuine gratitude.
I hope that doesn't make it sound like I think I deserve gratitude just on account of being a glorified government employee, but I can definitely tell the difference between someone who genuinely believes I somehow keep them safe, and someone who is saying because they think they have to, and I wish those people felt comfortable not saying anything at all
Things Are More Complicated Than They Appear
That everyone has preconceived notions about the military, good or bad, and any information given to the contrary goes in one ear and out the other.
Also applies to just about everything else. People don't like to give any additional thought to an idea once they have settled on it as their personal belief. TBH thinking about it bums me out a lot.
"The Military" is a huge organization and a supreme example of the American melting-pot, with people from literally all walks of life and all ideologies, and making any generalizations about service members beyond "they are all human" is pointless.
Kind Of A Tactless Way To Say It, But, Okay
If you're good at your job, great! You'll get to do someone else's job too. When things need to get done, regardless of who's responsibility something is, the tasks will fall to the people who can do them- the high performers. So you end up with all of these high performers who get burnt out because they're doing their job and picking up all of the slack that falls on their shoulders.
In the military especially, it's frustrating when these high performers who carry most of the load are compensated and treated the same as their peers who don't add as much value- the military is many things, but a meritocracy it is not.
Many from this top group leave the military to pursue something where their disproportionate contribution is rewarded. You then end up with the leftover group of people from the middle of the pack, who were never really high performers, finding themselves in leadership positions. Through attrition of the actual best, the middle rises, simply because they end up being the best of who's left after the high performers leave.
Just Asking Questions Can Get You In Trouble
There's a lot of grey between the black and white of following orders.
"Our worst day is some people's paradise."
How well we have it. Visiting other countries puts your "struggles" into perspective.
Our worst day is some peoples paradise
They Will Take Anyone. Any. One.
The ridiculous amount of stupid people that exist, and how low the bar actually is to join the military.
It's Not As Bad As It Seems
That people freak out about wars about to break out, despite not being in the military.
Like, you think Iran is [going] to be world war 3 and you work at starbucks.
Calm down karen.
Things Don't Trickle Down
People who have less give more and people who have more give less and take away from the people who have less..
You'd Be Surprised How Much Nothing We Do
When I was in [military] in Germany when it was still mandatory: Nothing.
We were just doing pointless stuff all day. Like laying around in the forest for no reason.
Caring Is A Good Thing
Comradery doesn't exist in most civilian jobs. Lucky for me, I now work with mostly ex-military people. Folks who have never known what it means, to have a bond with coworkers, are the worst people to work with, IMO.
Some of them are the typical corporate minded, back-stabbing, kiss-ups, and are the bane of comeradery in the workplace, especially once they get promoted to management. Knowing what it means to have that bond...it really opens your eyes to the types of insecure, and uncaring co-workers that exist out there.
If you are one of these personalities(which is likely when you have never had comrades), I want you to know, that giving-a-sh-t about people you work with, is a 'good' thing.
Doesn't Matter The Rank. You're All The Same.
Everyone has an opinion about military members and it is imperative that you agree with them about it.
I've been called a war hero, a baby murderer and everything in between.
I'm a f*cking 14p we don't do anything to warrant either reaction.
Having A Uniform Doesn't Make You A Good Guy
There is good and bad people in almost every group of people. For instance some of the worst people I met were in the military.
Some of the people on the other side weren't evil, they just didn't want foreigners conquering (liberating we say) their country.
Being A Criminal Doesn't Mean You're A Bad Guy
Just because someone commits a crime and you have to arrest them doesn't mean they're a bad person. Most of the people I have arrested or given citations to are cooperative and polite. The majority of these individuals understand that they made a mistake and that they now have to accept the responsibility.
Respect will get you respect. Treat people fairly and regardless of the situation, they will 9/10 times treat you fairly back.
RindgeTinge17Don't Know What You Need
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Being on deployment overseas made me appreciate signs and announcements in English. Being in Dubai or India and not getting lost because of the English signage is something one wouldn't think important until they're lost and need to make it back to ship on time.
So now when someone complains about seeing signs in Spanish or French in America I'm more prone to calling them out on their bullsh-t.
You Know The Real Deets
If your security clearance is high enough, the evening news makes no sense.
Everyone Has The Same Potential
The only sign of being a good person is being a good person.
People like to say "oh, that person has x trait, he's a good person". None of those traits pan out.
Religion, education, money, status, race, politics, electability, sexuality....I met plenty of straight-up aholes in every iteration of every category there is. Nearly every iteration of every category also had strongly good people in it. There was virtually no correlation.
Not Everyone Is A Saint
Before Army: "Everyone in military service is a hero. F-cking extinguish anyone who thinks otherwise."
After Army: "I've been wrong... for a very long time."
If you're a service member, what do you wish other non-service people knew about your job? Share it with us!
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
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