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!
"What is a subtle sign that someone is really intelligent?"
The minds of really smart individuals never stop working.
Resourcefulness
"They draw wisdom from multiple sources. Wait but that might be more wise than intelligent... But I guess those two tend to be seen together a lot."
– Puzzlehead-Engineer
Inquisitive Minds
"They are curious about everything."
"To be intelligent you need to be knowledgeable and you cant be knowledgeable if you are never curious."
– soup54461
The way highly intelligent people interact with others is slightly different.
Social Adaptability
"They can switch up the way they talk to match the person they're talking to without sounding condescending. They listen to how others learn and explain it in that person's language of understanding."
– Wynonna99
Talking On Level Ground
"Talking to people as if they're intelligent at their level and without being condescending or even letting on that it's lower than their level."
"I used to work with a doctor - Tom Howard - and the day I realized he was a genius was the time he guessed every single condition a patient of mine had based on minute piece of information about him."
– Yoodei_Mon
The Humble Professor
"No joke. The smartest professor I had in engineering school was also the most humble. She was an astounding human being. By week 2, she knew everyone's names by heart in the intro engineering course. In College. With like 180 students. Later, in upper division classes, people would occasionally ask some really stupid questions."
"Like, it happens... you get so deep into some fluid mechanics derivation or something you forget something really basic. People would ask a question like this and everyone would be thinking like; 'Wow, how did you even make it this far?' but then... it's like she would spot the flaw in their understanding so perfectly, and then respond with such clarity and wisdom that the person asking the question would look less stupid and the whole class would be enlightened."
"And here's the thing... I pride myself on being really good at that exact skill. I tutored a lot of people. I was easily one of the brightest amongst my peers. But that woman was on another level. It was mind-blowing."
"And it wasn't just her intelligence, but her organizational skills, discipline, consistency.... And yet... she was so humble. She was quiet and physically quite small. But she just exuded competence and immediately commanded every room she walked into. I've never seen anything quite like it."
– EngineeringNeverEnds
A Positive Effect
"When they explain something they make you feel intelligent."
– gwoshmi
When In Doubt
"They know when their knowledge ends and say something to the extent of 'I don't know and anything else i say on this topic is ignorant speculation.'"
–blutoboy
Some with impressive IQs may deal with questions in the following ways.
Reaction To Delayed Responses
"'You really think about everything don't you?' - a doctor, to me, after he asked me a question and I took longer than 2 seconds to answer it."
"No, I just pull something out of my @ss every time and those extra seconds you waited for me to answer were purely to irritate you for my own enjoyment."
– Imakegoatnoises
The Really Good Questions
"They can ask really good questions."
"Edit: to anyone not understanding what mean, I’m talking about people who ask 'really good questions,' not just any questions, really good ones. I don’t know how one would achieve this skill(I know I haven’t)."
– milkmanbran
Taking Pause
"They spend time thinking before asking a question."
– ParkMan73
"Some of the smartest people don’t comment at all."
– metric-poet
I agree with many of the comments saying a really intelligent person knows how to cater the conversation towards another person's level of understanding.
They do have the impressive skill to convey something in a way that can easily be understood. Some of the most venerated professors at my university were like this, and their classes were always the hardest to get in to.
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I'm on the fence about high school. I want to hate it, but nostalgia haunts me. I saw a lot of violence, there is that.
We were on CNN.
don lemon nodding GIF by Red Table TalkGiphy"They started charging us for ketchup in the cafeteria. Most of the school boycotted cafeteria lunch and brought all manner of condiments from home. We were on CNN. They eventually caved." ~ Ash3Monti
No one liked him.
"I was big into drama club and musical theatre when I was in high school. There was a girl in the drama club in her freshmen or sophomore year who was super nice and everyone loved her. Her older brother on the the other hand, was a complete and total douchebag. No one liked him."
"He always made inappropriate comments or jokes and no one liked to be around him. One night, he was driving him and his sister back from school when he took a steep curve going around 100 mph. He lost control and hit a telephone pole. His sister died instantly and he was in a coma for a few weeks but ultimately survived."
"Myself and my friends in the drama club were devastated. She was one of the sweetest girls you'll ever met and we all loved her. A year or two later, the brother messages my sister and tries to use his sister's death as leverage to get laid. F**k you, you piece of crap." ~ FearTheKeflex
Bribes
"Guidance counselor was taking bribes to change grades (Both money and sexual favors). Invited one male student over to his house. Had the student tie him up and hang him by chains in his basement "dungeon." Student was homophobic and while the counselor was tied up, bludgeoned him to death." ~ monthos
H2O Issues...
"This is not that extreme, but it's still disgusting. We have drinking water taps instead of fountains. One parent was suspicious of whether they were cleaning the tanks or not. So they made an announcement that the tank was being cleaned every single day."
"A lot of us didn't believe it, so a group of boys decided to see for themselves if it was true or not. So they put a dead frog in the tank when there was no one around. I don't even know where they found the frog but they swear they didn't kill it. Anyway the frog was there for a few weeks. And obviously the water started tasting weird."
"After the teachers got multiple complaints, they opened the tank and found the frog. The boys were punished, but they fired back with the fact that they lied about cleaning the tanks. They were still punished, because they proved it in a disgusting way. They could've put literally anything in the tank, but they chose a dead frog." ~ R00mTemperature
The Quad
Acds2 Look Away GIF by Anime Crimes DivisionGiphy"A worker doing stuff on the roof. He fell off. Landed in the 'quad' at lunch. A large piece of machinery fell and squished his head. Like a cartoon, only funny. Like 150 Kids saw this." ~ LordInventus
Threats
"The Latin kings gang threatened my cousin and his friends and they had 10 squad cars guarding the whole school and dismissed us the same day early." ~ Terrykrinkle
“it’s gonna blow”
"I had just moved in from Egypt to the states in my senior year of high school. A teacher thought it would be funny to fold a bunch of papers and wrap them in duck tape to make it look like a bomb and threw it my direction and went under his desk saying 'it’s gonna blow.' Everybody started laughing and I was so clueless then I just laughed along. It infuriates me to this day that I didn’t call him out on it or report him." ~ ezzabousaif
Go Fish
"Someone somehow made a bomb threat on a Swedish fish candy. Like one single piece. I don’t know how it happened but he got arrested." ~ ts_13_
Masternid
"A couple weeks before graduation, this kid hacked into the school system and put a Hitler quote and a Boston bomber reference in the senior quotes for the yearbook. One of the affected parties was a trans girl, and we're still not sure if it was a targeted act because of that."
"Administration didn't find out until the entire senior class had received their books. Some people turned theirs in to get their pages replaced, but some kept it because it was a 'limited edition item' or some stupid sh*t like that. Kid got arrested and charged with cybercrime, since he hacked everyone in our school system's school passwords."
"He was so close to graduating too, but got expelled like two weeks before he could. Looked like a rat too. It was all over the news, and everyone in the state of CT basically knows about this now. Got out on bail for $5000." ~ kocorpsie
Season 3 What GIF by On My Block"Apparently one student brought drugs to school and was selling it to her friends. A completely unrelated student caught on and stole the drugs while everyone else was in class. She was caught snorting the drugs in the bathroom by the group selling the drugs and got the crap beat out of her."
"We also had a recently graduated student murder his parents for insurance money . He hid the bodies in a chicken coop and told everybody they were on vacation. It wasn't until 7 months later the bodies were found by the landlord because the rent was late." ~ randomgenericcow
Enjoy high school, at least try too. Maybe if more kids do that, it wouldn't be so insane.
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