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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • In the military there are two separate classes, officers and enlisted. Officers had at least a bachelor’s degree and the military is a much different experience for them. They come in day as leaders, are paid significantly more, and have more opportunities to make lifelong connections with powerful people.

    Enlisted are treated like blue collar workers, the grunts. Just in their day to day jobs enlisted people are going to have more wear and tear on their bodies. Take battle experience out of it, just as is, officers have a much better path forward.

    Fraternization is illegal between officers and enlisted which basically makes it two segregated classes.

    Enlisted folks also tend to come from lower income families, so while they are giving more opportunities than staying in their home town it can still be difficult for them to advance much higher.

    In short, you have a large mixture of people from different ways of life with different education levels. Some take advantage of stuff like the GI Bill or other opportunities,. others don’t. Also some give their bodies to the extent that they can’t really function at the same levels on the outside.


  • I got invited to a new years party thrown by a coworker. My gf had to work that evening, so she dropped me off on her way to work and was going to pick me up after her shift. This way I could drink and not have to worry about driving.

    When I get there hang out and have a beer. Then my my coworker pulled the, “hey your good with computers right.” After spending an hour or two fixing his computer, I went to join the party. I didn’t know anyone there and no one would really even talk to me. Except this one huge guy who just kept wanting to fight me.

    I spent most of the night sitting outside drinking by myself just waiting for my gf to get off work and pick me up. While waiting for her I drank more than I should have and as soon as we got home I spent the rest of the night puking.



  • This pretty much mirrors my experience. The only thing different I saw was the assigned potential jurors group numbers. Each group was assigned to a particular courtroom/judge. If all the cases accepted plea deals they’d let that entire group leave. Most people were out of there by 10am.

    Of course, I was assigned to the one case that did go to trial. The jury selection took the rest of the day. I was number 26, but enough people before me got eliminated, so I ended up on the jury. A couple of people after me did too.

    The trial, for the most part, was insanely boring. It was for a DUI and vehicular assault, and the only reason it went to trial was because it was his 3rd strike. The first day we had to watch the entire recording from the police body camera from them arriving at the accident, to arresting the guy, driving to the hospital to get his blood drawn, and all the way to dropping him off at the jail. The only entertaining part was when the defense attorney put the drivers girlfriend on the stand. She started saying some bat crazy shit, and the defense attorney trying to cover for himself asked her if she had any mental health problems. This caused her to lose it and she started yelling and screaming at him.

    In the end it was a great learning experience and gave me a closer look into the criminal justice system.








  • I was in the military and was friends with a guy I worked with. When I got promoted I changed positions, so I didn’t see him much at work, but we still hung out outside of work often.

    One day he did something that could have gotten him in a lot of trouble. I was the only NCO (Sargent) around when it happened. My supervisor offered to take care of the punishment himself because he knew we were friends. I said no, he’s my friend, I witnessed it, so I’ll take care of it. Plus I was able to convince them to just give him some paperwork, instead of more severe punishment he could have had.

    I took him into a private area, explained what he did wrong and that he was only getting paperwork. He didn’t say a word, just signed it and walked out. I tried to go talk to him after work and his roommate came out calling me all sorts of names, asking how I could do that to him, and how I was a power tripping asshole, on and on. I asked if I could talk to my friend and explain and he told me my friend requested I never come back over.

    I was at that base another year and he never talked to me again.





  • The ability to relax. I have a special needs child who constantly screams at us. We have no respite because none of our relatives are willing to deal with him anymore. All of his therapies and medical bills have nearly bankrupt me. My wife is suffering from PTSD because of it. We are on every waiting list for state resources but so far nothing.

    Even as I tried to write this comment, I had to stop what I was doing because my wife went to the bathroom, and my son decided to yell at her because she left a pot on the stove.

    I am completely incapable of relaxing anymore. If I do get a chance I’ll just be racked with intrusive thoughts. Like last night I was watching Stranger Things and when I saw a kid on there with braces, all I could think was, “I need to get my son braces. But since he can’t handle someone touching his face, it is going to be a nightmare. He’s 13 and I still have to monitor his teethbrushing, who knows how much it will suck with braces. It will also be way more expensive because we’ll have to sedate him, for every appointment” Then I spiral down from there. This is just one small example.

    I’m in therapy and on meds for it. And so is my wife. I wish I lived in a state with legal marijuana because it’s the only thing I’ve found that will actually help me relax. At this point we are actually considering selling our house, so we can afford to send him to a boarding school that is designed for kids like him. And maybe then we can get some respite.