“You were a Marine? Oh, I could never do that, X.”
Where X is a phrase like ‘I could never stand the discipline’ or ‘I could not stand being yelled at’ or ‘I hate it when people tell me what to do’.
This is bullshit.
All of us put ourselves under discipline for one reason or another, and we do it willingly.
If you can make the team, hold down a job, graduate college, learn a skill, you can certainly stand four years in the military. Don’t have to be an automaton, don’t have to loose your individuality, neither. Me, I had a problem with authority [1] for few years, until I settled down: I did okay.
It’s just that the consequences of screwing up in the military are more immediate. Present a failure to adapt in the office, the consequences are slow or no promotion, loss of pay. It’s all very slow and gradual. Failure to adapt in the military and you will find yourself doing many, many, push-ups with a metaphorical boot up your ass.
Funny – I have only heard this from younger people who have not found themselves, or older folks who are clearly losers. Adults making a living . . . not so much.
[1] And I have the Page 11 entries [2] to prove it.
[2] Page 11 is page in the Serviceman’s Record Book (SRB) where the bad stuff [3] is chronicled.
[3] The Corps, in it’s wisdom, arranged the SRB very neatly. Page 11 – the bad stuff – comes first. The page with the good stuff, next. The first thing your new C.O. sees as he pages through is the list of bad stuff, neatly typed and arranged line by line. Which totally eliminates any kind of distance between one’s youthful escapades and the present day. The first thing any CO will say is ‘Hmm. I see offenses X, Y, and Z. (long pause) We going to have any problems?'[4] [5]
[4] I do believe they rehearse this line at The Basic School.
[5] The one exception to this was Master Gunnery Sergent Howard, then the (so I was told) senior WM in the Marines, or at least in the 4000 MOS. She said ‘I see you had offenses X, Y, and Z. (short pause) Clean slate as far as I am concerned. Don’t fuck up anymore.’ Gob’less you Master Gunnery Sergeant Howard.
Cross posted to Space For Commerce.