Everyone Dies [but we're still kickin']

I get the most obscure looks when I cut the plastic 6 pack rings at work. One of my bosses actually pulled me aside and asked what the hell I was doing when he witnessed my ring-cutting antics.

Are these people (these people meaning the United States military) really that ignorant that they cannot recognize what a simple cutting of plastic rings is all about? Did we not learn this obvious purpose back in elementary school? Even with an ounce of common sense, Joe Shmoe could figure this out.

This simply reinforces my belief that our military is a plethora of ignorance. While I do believe that we deal with situations that one might not normally encounter, I also believe that three fourths of our armed servicemen/women use our "sacrifice," as many like to call it, as an excuse to be complete and utter morons.

Let us take the most obvious example: college education. In the USAF and every other branch of the military (the latter not proven; I know the Navy has 100% tuition assistance, the Army and USMC most likely have 100% but it might be 75%), we are allowed to take virtually any class, free of cost. The only general exception is if you fail a class, then you owe Uncle Sam the cost of the class. You have your choice of online or traditional classes. You can go to a college off base or take the convenient on base classes. There are morning, afternoon, and night classes. Yet 90% of first term airmen (meaning those in their first enlistment) do not take advantage of this marvelous opportunity. Note that most first term airmen are straight out of high school. Now some of you might say, "Well, what if they are planning on making their enlistment a career? College would be a waste of time." Not only does having a degree help you with promotions, a BA is REQUIRED to make E-8. If you want to have a career in the military, you will most likely want to achieve the highest rank possible, would you not? Others might argue, "After my enlistment is up I'm going to work construction with my dad, so I'm set." Is that absolutely what you want to do? Go from being a pawn in the military to a slave of convenience? Your dad might have a job set up for you but you most likely dream of something completely different. There is also the most classic excuse I hear, "I'll just do it when I get out." You're going to turn down FREE classes just so you can spend your hard earned G.I. Bill after you get out? That 50k isn't going to cover everything, you know. A BA doesn't go as far as it used to. You'll most likely want a Masters if you're going to be the most successful in life. There is also the fact that you'll be out of school for so long, you'll have a hard time getting back into the groove of things. Why not start classes when all of your high school information is still relatively fresh in your mind?

It's everyone's choice as to whether they'll take classes or not, whenever they want to, but it just peeves me to think that people are wasting such a wonderful opportunity so they can be lazy. Maybe it's because I am so thankful that even after my failure in college the first time around, I've been given the chance to continue on after the fact. < /rant>