• psion1369@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    4 hours ago

    Thank you for your service and here are your awards and medals. Your family will thank you even more when you die and they hawk your medals at my pawn shop for a few extra bucks of inheritance.

    My father in law used to run flea markets on the side. Used to say that in the service he worked hard as hell and never got a medal of honor, but working the flea markets he had a jar full of them. Nobody gives a shit about service.

  • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    7 hours ago

    It’s only the virtue signalling that annoys me. If you’re just trolling me, then it’s good for a laugh.

    I swept for your freedom.

    • evidences@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      5 hours ago

      One of the guys I work with now won’t stop sweeping at work it’s annoying as all hell. Now everyone I see a broom outside of work I have a negative response to it, I might have PTSD. Anyways thanks for your service.

  • sOlitude24k@lemmy.myserv.one
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    51
    ·
    edit-2
    19 hours ago

    It’s always awkward to respond to it, too. Like, my service sucked. Don’t thank me because I was poor and needed a job and healthcare, lol. Most of the people I was in didn’t give a shit about patriotism. We just wanted to not starve to death and go to college.

    • SlapnutsGT@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      19 minutes ago

      It’s very awkward for me especially since I was only an electrician fixing lighthouses, I wasn’t getting shot at overseas or anything.

    • diskmaster23@lemmy.one
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 hour ago

      Like 10-15 years ago, I contacted the air force to join and become an officer (I have a degree). I wanted to do a gs-1102 job. The recruiter asked why I wanted to join. I said for a job. They said no, they wanted patriots. Guy, ask service members, they aren’t there to “serve their country,” they are there for a job.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      6 hours ago

      I watched a documentary at a film festival a few years ago about a Vietnam vet, who was there for the premiere and took questions from the audience afterwards. The vet mentioned how much he hated hearing “thank you for your service” all the time. Another Vietnam vet stood up and asked him a question, and the first vet started off his answer with “thank you for your service”.

  • N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    57
    ·
    21 hours ago

    That’s why you shouldn’t thank them for their service with mere words, but with song. A rousing round of God Bless America sung by the entire room is how you properly thank service members. Remind everyone in the audience that if they don’t join in, it’s because they hate America.

  • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    24
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    19 hours ago

    I’ve heard it’s Schrodinger’s virtue signaling. Most military guys get annoyed, but then when you don’t virtue signal, it just happens to be the one guy who actually enjoys it and gets upset that you didn’t say, “thanks for your service”.

    • Kalkaline @leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      21 hours ago

      Also I think I might thank my dog’s veterinarian, just to see how far up in their head their eyes will roll.

  • Aeao@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    20 hours ago

    I don’t believe in wars (don’t message me, yes there was a way to end your specific example thru diplomacy. Look it up on google)

    Anyway I always go with “I admire you’re bravery” because that doesn’t go against my beliefs but still shows respect for what they had to do.

      • Aeao@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        20 minutes ago

        We could’ve stopped the Nazis by… You know… Allowing Jewish people to move to America…

        But bombs are cool too I guess. If you only want to be slightly less racist than Nazis and are fine with a lot of unnecessary death.

      • Aeao@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        14 hours ago

        I mean… That is a theory. I don’t like it but it’s still better than war. Arguably the cold war and proxy wars prevented a major war…

        I dont think of it as a perfect win obviously because of the proxy wars like Vietnam and Korea. Those wars specifically gave me a bucket full of nice medals but cost me every single one of my uncles. There were other proxy wars though.

        Anyway my point is 2 fold.

        1. Arguably that strategy prevented a much bloodier war between Russia and the US but there were still better ways to handle that without any war.

        And 2) if you ignore the proxy wars the “cold war” approach is one way to avoid war, I guess. The government equivalent of the obnoxious drunk guy flexing his muscles and saying “you don’t want none of this bro”… It’s better than a war but not my favorite strategy. Although I might not like that approach it did prevent a war, it was better than a war… So… Good job?

        Again the proxy wars ruin that but they were unnecessary and didn’t change much for the US or Russia. Obviously they did a lot of damage to the countries we fought in. My point is the cold war approach didn’t need that to prevent the war. It actually pushed us closer.

        I’m just saying the “I’ve got a bigger gun” diplomacy… Well it’s definitely a strategy that is better than war…