Hey, I've calmed down a bit since then (a bunch of shit not working at work plus some still lingering bitterness about the accident I mentioned, made me kind of rage-y lol), but I'm glad we see eye to eye (even if it's a bit unexpected on my part lol). And I'm going to agree with you again as well. I've had lots of friends that have been at that point- the military calling to them like a get out of jail free card- and I don't want to say that I've talked them all out it...but I have. Here's my best advice to someone who wants to join the Army- Do you want to kill someone? Do you want to go to war? If dying in a foreign land for your country sounds like the adventure of a lifetime, then the Army is for you. I am by no means saying it will happen (even if you ask for it- yes, these people do exist-one of my father's only regrets is not getting a combat patch), but every person I've known that had successful military career was more than willing to go to war and kill someone. And if you're not willing (read: biting at the bit with murderous ecstasy) to do that, then you need to reevaluate all your options.

Also, since you mentioned that Marine guy wanting to go private, yes, I have run into lots of douches like him, some of them are even balls-ey enough to be like "I'm sexy, and I know it!" And I'm just like, "I'll respect you when you're a full-bird (Colonel)/ fought in real war, until then you can fuck off."). I tend to notice that real veterans don't make such a big deal of their service- it was just one of those things you were expected to do. Like someone else said, the older generation is much more respectful (how they failed to pass this on...). I can honestly say, as horrible as this sounds, I've heard of people talking about how they're gonna get an easy ride in the military doing research or something and won't have to do a whole lot even in the way of basic, and when I do, I kind of want them to get thrown to war. To me, they were attempting to screw the army/military over by not offering real service/weaseling out of basic obligations as a military service member, why shouldn't they screw you over in return (why not zoidburg?)?

I will also say that one of the things that pissed me off more than the bumper stickers (this one's more personal), is my sister's ex's mother, who was absolutely beside herself to see her eldest son serve in the First Gulf War (to the point she needed hospitalization), but doesn't bat an eyelash that her younger son is now doing the exact same thing, but he's doing it as a contractor and profiting off these people's suffering, so that's okay (btw, he's doing some blackwater type shit, so fuck that guy).

Speaking of which, kudos to you for sucking it up and paying your dues- I know it sucks, but it's better than being tied to an organization that will screw you if they know they can get away with it, for 5 years of your life. Although one of the friends I talked out of joining the military was a drag queen, so take that for your "How the hell do you go from frying wings, to wanting to kill someone?"

Also, I do the same thing with "you", and usually rely on context clues to see if it's "you" as in me specifically, or a general "you" (again, why context clues were not passed on to some people, or even why english doesn't have an actual word for "you all"...but I digress even further) and even if you came on here and were like "FUCK YOU SLEEPYHEAD, YOU PIGGLY BITCH" I would not be offended since it's the internet, and I would probably laugh that you used the term "Piggly bitch".