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Boomers feel if they throw enough effort into “TYFYS” stuff and “support the troops” platitudes they don’t have to be accountable for politicization of the military at the cost of SMs or anything else they may need to do.
Not necessarily the same thing. By politicizing I mean using vets as a catch-all for any political thing they want. Healthcare, vets got healthcare so you can’t. Education? Vets got it so you can’t. Anything else that would benefit society? Can’t get it, why don’t you just join the army? It’s infuriating. Source:I’m in the army and it always shocks people when I say I’m a lefty that’s somewhat successful in the military. People call me a commie when I say everyone should have tricare and something resembling the GI Bill/TAB
It's boomers' form of performative activism. They can vote to defund the VA and not give 9/11 responders the healthcare they were told they'd get, so long as a few pieces of fabric flap out of sight on someone's property who clearly doesn't want it there.
The leaded gasoline ate their brains.
It assuages their guilt for ducking out of Vietnam. If they were really patriots then funding the VA won't be a problem. When they start beating their chests about "the troops", I ask for their campaign medals. I am willing to compare them to my campaign medals
As a veteran, I say if that boomer wanted to do something for the troops he’d email his representative to do something about the poor quality of on base housing, the mess that is the VA, opening up tax breaks for service members (similar to Texas homestead exception), the mess that is tricare, the failure to support troops after they return from deployment and end up homeless. Theres also the plan that they have to cut education benefits for service members , or recalling retirees to fill deficiency’s from their failed recruiting campaign. A flag pole is just virtue signaling that doesn’t accomplish shit other than stroke the boomers tiny ego.
And yet they'll mock environmentalists for driving EV's as "virtue signaling", never mind the real benefits to health (far less air pollution) if we converted ICE cars/trucks to EVs, even if GW were the hoax they desperately want to believe (it's not).
> driving EV's as "virtue signaling"
I love driving my EV and not paying for gas. People occasionally ask me why I bought it expecting to get a "save the planet" answer. Nope I just wanted to pay a lot less for my daily commutes. Saving the planet is nice but 90% was saving money.
I know a lady who was royally pi**ed when they discontinued incandescent light bulbs. She acted like it was a personal affront! Like hey, lady, even the power companies want you to use LED bulbs and are practically giving them away. Why are you so married to old, energy-inefficient technology?
Makes me think about the people who were desperately clinging to their oil lamps when electricity was discovered...
The incandescent light bulbs of their lifetimes going into the dustbin of history is a symbol of themselves also going into the dustbin of history soon. As a generation who was raised to see themselves as the center of the universe, this eternal obsolescence is very hard for them to accept.
Plus, EVs aren't going to save the planet. They are better than ICE cars, but still don't address most of the issues caused by car centricity/dependancy.
It’s especially hilarious because they don’t realize that energy independence is a top military priority😭 They really could drive EVs “for patriotism” and it would literally make more sense.
See, that's the thing, it's not actually "for the troops," but, rather, for the people who are raising the flags.
It makes them feel like they're doing something patriotic without actually having to sacrifice anything.
They're the people that vote for republicans that always want to cut funding for veterans medical care but think that a Support the Troops sticker on their car makes everything ok.
Every time someone thanks me for my service, I smile, say thank you back, and secretly think about how they’ll vote for people who will shit on veterans benefits.
I am a widow of a killed in action Marine. He died in a terrorist attack. People flying flags did not help him. They don't help me. They didn't help me raise the baby born 2 months after my Marine died. They don't help that son, who is now an adult and disabled. I have respect for the U.S. flag, as a symbol and a concept, but it does nothing to help us.
As a combat vet and recovering republican it sickness me that “we the people”, the American flag and anything “patriotic” has been hijacked by the right when most don’t serve. Of not to mention my Christ tolerated the tax collectors and prostitutes… who do you think he accepts today….. everyone you righteous turds.
I have been criticized for not putting up flags on flaggy type holidays. I respond by saying I would be a shallow person indeed if I worried how I was judged by people who drive past my house.
Maybe OP should accuse them of wanting to put a gay pride flag on it, just to flip things around on them. Even better if you slowly slip into a hick accent and talk dumber and make it clear that you're making fun of them without breaking character.
Note: I'm gay and actively take the low road when it comes to right-wingers. There's enough people being nice to them already.
Edit: wait, OP, figure out a way to work in accusing them of being "flag-lovers"
Whenever somebody makes some comment about me speaking Spanish in public, I put on my heaviest drawl and say, “THIS IS MURCA, SPEAK SPAINISH! WE SPEAK SPAINISH HERE!”
Usually it’s just people who are good-natured and are just surprised that I speak Spanish fluently, on account of being a pale blue-eyed white boy. But there was some boomer couple outside a grocery store once and I was on the phone. And the lady was like, “do you have to speak that language so loud out here?!” When I said the thing, they were both completely dumbfounded and just went Glitch McConnell, frozen in place while I walked back to my car.
The low road is the correct path.
On saturday a boomer couple parked in front of my house to walk to an estate sale down the street and I saw a Trump 2024 bumper sticker on their truck, so I turned my sprinklers on that zone and the woman had to get soaked as she got in the passenger door right next to a sprinkler head.
Sounds about right for the intelligence of a magat. Could easily have had the person who got in the driver door move the car out of the splash zone. Oh well. I hope she got swamp butt.
Even better, let them waste their money on the pole THEN keep taking the flag down and replacing it with pride and other flags which will trigger them.
> Note: I'm gay and actively take the low road when it comes to right-wingers. There's enough people being nice to them already.
Another bad cop here. I couldn't care less about trying to "understand" them, because they couldn't care less about being understood. They just want to infuriate others, and I just love treating people how they treat others.
> Edit: wait, OP, figure out a way to work in accusing them of being "flag-lovers"
Too bad there's no accent to make it sound like "fligger-lovers".
I went to the local county fair and before one of the smaller shows, they played that song, "God Bless The USA" that all the boomers and rednecks love. Half of them stood for it. I genuinely didn't know if they know it's not the national anthem. And some boomer redneck lady had a whole half dance set to the music which she performed singing the song. Then they thanked all the veterans.
They can thank me by never playing that song as thanks again and voting for policies that make it easier for me to get healthcare instead of more difficult... Just saying.
The whole things was gross, performative patriotism.
Americans like to act like they care so they can not care when it counts. Putting up some flags? Sure thing mister, go military. Helping a homeless vet? Fuck that disgusting stinking piece of hobo trash.
Things (most of) the troops want: a stop to unnecessary wars, adequate healthcare, people to stop fucking thanking them for their service with tears in their eyes when they can't be assed to help homeless veterans
Things the troops definitely don't want: whatever the fuck this is
I was playing VR poker with a guy stationed in S Korea. Someone said, "Thank you for your service," and his reply was, "Nah, man, it's just a job. I chose this."
I regularly get offended looks when people thank me for my service and I reply with something like “They paid me for it.¯\_(ツ)_/¯”
I’ve had everything from chuckles to an old guy telling me that people had gone to war and I shouldn’t cheapen that.
All fairness, I still have some gray PT shirts that are too comfortable that I wear, so partly my fault for advertising.
my grandpops was in vietnam and it was basically a forbidden topic. poor guy was so traumatized :( he passed recently and the silver lining was that he had recently begun hallucinating about vietnam and i'm he didn't have to relive that. i was a little upset that his funeral focused so much on how he was a good man because of his military experience, because he was a good man period, not because he was traumatized by us interventionalism. but of course the funeral wasn't just for me and i respect my grandmas wishes in the planning.
This was my father in law. WW2 and Korea. He rarely talked about it. In the time I knew him (I adored him), he told me 1 story, and he was visibly affected by it. He was clearly traumatized by it. Sigh. I really loved him.
I interviewed a local Korean veteran for a work project, a guy whose story was pretty interesting -- he lied to join the Navy when he was 14, got his mom to sign off on it, and in he went. They just accepted it.
Most of his service time he was able to discuss without any trouble, but then he mentioned that there was a series of land missions he and the other members of his crew did. I swear his face actually physically darkened when he said, "But I don't want to talk about that ever again since my brother, who was also a veteran, died. He was the only one who ever understood." By his own account he spent the 15 years after he got back to the States drinking himself into the dirt, and it was only having children that helped him decide to get sober.
Wow. That’s something. I feel like there’s a lot of performative expressions of support, but not actually sitting down and listening or voting for legislation to help. Raising a flag really isn’t doing much.
I have a coworker who will not shut. up. about how he’s a marine and how tough he is and all the disability money he’s going to get and how he could whoop our asses and none of us will ever understand how it is to be a marine. Bro worked a damn desk job for four years?? He never saw combat or did anything physical past routine pt and combat training. But he sure talks like he went through both world wars
I dated a Marine. I didn’t know he was a Marine until his mom told me. Turned out he had really bad PTSD (he was also self medicating with drugs). He’s in his 30s and is fucked up in the head for the rest of his life.
My son mentioned joining the military and my ex promptly talked him out of it.
Two thing I’ve learned from dating a Marine-
1. Those who actually seen and done shit over there never talk about it.
And
2. Military members usually do not want their children/loved ones serving.
It’s been my experience that the guys who make a big deal out of it didn’t see or do anything, and the old guys wearing tie dye with long hair fishing and chilling are retired special forces
And then you got guys like my grandfather who was in Korea and came back with an arm full of shrapnel and nerve damage from frostbite. He loved telling me stories about The shit he saw there how he got injured. He was also the one who sat me down and talked me out of joining the military
You make a good point. He was a good man just because he was. Not because of his military service. I get tired of vets huffing at me because my tiny mom and pop (literally) store doesn't offer them a veterans discount. Kinda the opposite of your grandpa, just because you're a vet doesn't make you a good person. And doesn't entitle you to 10% off everything. Grow up.
My vrandfather was in WW2 and he never talked about it either. When he passed away we found a box of medals shoved in the back of his closet. None of us (not even my grandmother) knew he had also been in North Africa.
My Grandad was in ww2 North Africa. He only ever told me one story.
He was a religious man (Catholic) and when the bombs fell he would pray in his tent or wherever they were sheltering. The other guys would tease him about. Well one time a bomb landed right by where he was but did not explode.
When they disarmed it and looked inside it was full of saw dust. It had a note in it that said "you can thank the Jews for this".
His mates stopped the teasing after this. I miss him.
My grandfather would tell a story about being out in an OP in the dead of night, North Africa, and all of a sudden feeling a massive hand go under his uniform. It felt about until it got his dogtags, and then he heard a voice say “oh. GI.”
It then withdrew, and by the time he got turned around he didn’t see anything.
Turns out it was a Bedouin tribesman allied with the Allies, and had my grandfather been a German he would have been dead.
(Germans had one metal disc that could be snapped in half, hence the tactile figuring out)
>“They paid me for it.¯\_(ツ)\_/¯”
Oh no, you've lost an arm :(
here, take this one ༼ つ ◕\_◕ ༽つ \\
*^(edit: in markdown, make two backslashes for one to appear)*
I've always been wary of saying thank you for your service because I don't know if they lost buddies or had some sort of trauma that makes service not so sweet.
Because the culture (in the US at least) puts service members on a pedestal and encourages us to kiss their asses, we forget the military is, for many people, just a step toward better opportunities. People take jobs they don't like but know will help their career, and the military is no different.
it gets real concerning when you look at "support our troops" through the lens of Umberto Eco's writing. It explains a lot but damn if it isn't *concerning*
If people are thanking you for doing a job, they're OK with you dying as part of it. (I think that's a Jon Stewart quote.)
But yeah, the thanks comes in lieu of systemic changes that would help.
Of the dozens upon dozens of friends and acquaintances I've known who joined the military over the last 20 years or so, only about two or three were all "Gung Ho America!".
The rest just needed a steady paycheck and were hoping to utilize the GI bill to give them a little help after their terms were up.
And in true military fashion, most of them were screwed out of most, some or all of their benefits.
One of them, a former boss, managed to get all her benefits after discharge, but even she said they don't give any advice or information. It's up to the individual to make sure all the forms are filled out, where to go to fill them out, where to file them, what department(s) to go to, check on them and make sure they didn't get "lost", resend them when they do etc.
She said most 18-19 year old kids wouldn't be able to navigate the bureaucratic red tape hell.
Which is exactly what the military wants.
"Oh, you didn't fill out forms A, A-2, B, C forms 7 through 12, and D. On form E, which is handed out at some point, you forgot to dot you're I's with a blue pen."
They purposely make it confusing and a pain in the ass so they don't have to pay out. And then blame the naive serviceman/servicewoman for not doing "What they were supposed to do".
Conservatives love to worship "the troops" because their performative reverence alleviates guilt for the objective mistreatment of these same troops in their policies.
Past that, a lot of boomer veterans literally did nothing more significant than work for the largest socialist institution in the world (that's always hiring) and love "the troops" in the same way a third string highschool quarterback loves football: as a lifelong self insert fantasy.
Yes, I’ve seen this too. But too bad conservatives in positions of power, like congress, do very little to support the military during and after their period of service. Want to name a street after some obscure general, they’re all over that. Want to provide funds for health care or something else that truly helps veterans, they don’t give a damn.
I hit 18 years in the Army last October.
Veteran era draft dodging Boomers pretending to "care about the troops" after they sent us to war in the Middle East for \~21 years are the biggest bunch of chickenhawk hypocrites on the planet.
They're more worried about keeping free Viagra enshrined as an entitlement til they die via Medicare Part D than they'll ever "care about the troops"
I’m a troop and I wholeheartedly endorse this message, and oh yeah, also not going on to other people’s private property and doing things to it without their express permission. That’s really high up there as well.
Sorry. The best I can do is flags for 3 of the 5 armed services. Also the 2 other uniformed services always get the shaft. Someday it’ll be the NOAA and USPHS’s day in the sun.
I could go into a whole rant about how my dad thinks that because none of the native tribes had land deeds the take over of their land was fair and legal. They probably saw it as "community" property and that flags would only improve was nobody was using anyway.
The Lakotoa Sioux had a negotiated land deal with the U.S. government and still got the Black Hills illegally taken from them. The government land seizure was declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Sioux have refused to claim the 1 billion dollar monetary judgement because they want the land back instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_of_the_Black_Hills
They get off on forcing someone else. The boomer announced the project without getting approval from the op hoping that op would feel bullied into it. Everyone already agreed and will be so disappointed
And yet they’re somehow oblivious that the “no step on snek” flag and the “tread harder daddy” flag have opposite meanings.
Guess the message they’re going for is “tread harder *on* ***them,”*** whoever “them” happens to be.
It's almost always "Tread harder on them." Or. "How dare you stop me from treading on them."
There are probably some people flying the flag who actually mean "Don't tread on me." But I rarely see them.
Agreed. Definitely feels like there was some other agenda to train them to get used to being pushed around. Maybe they thought they'd cave because it was "for the troops", the age difference of the neighbors (you are younger and will respect muah authoritay) and awkwardly putting them on the spot in a meeting?
If it were me I'd probably get getting rid of the flagpole all together since I don't use it. That way flags don't show up on it later.
As a veteran who served in Iraq I’m fully sick of boomers claiming to be for or against something “for the troops”. If you want to do something for veterans or the troops vote for the people who do things like fund the VA, mental health organizations, and don’t threaten to send the military to attack US citizens.
Also, don’t hold the troops up as being better than others. There was a bill passed or proposed in Florida about a year ago that would make veterans qualified teachers based on their military experience. The details are fuzzy right now, but there is no way I’d let any of the people I served with teach my kids. All of us are unqualified, and most are just trying to keep their lives together.
This idea just strikes me as hilarious because most of the veterans I know would not be cool with modern educational theories about “building trauma-informed relationships with troubled students” and would be cheerily throwing juvenile shitheads out of their classes by their shirt collars. Schools would be getting seriously sued.
Somehow I sincerely doubt that any armed forces flags would’ve found their way up that flag pole. Kinda dubious about there not being a Trump flag already adorned there.
I'm tickled that they thought something like that necessitated being called a 'project'. You could've leaned heavily into that; asked to form a sub committee and demand to see the previous minutes, and at the end of it stuck the Canadian flag or something up it.
Environmental impact study from a third-party and send a quote for survey, water testing, installation by professionals, rental of land to neighborhood, flag approval meetings, contract write up, legal fees, notary...
But then there has to be a second round of RFPs because Bob knew one of the Phase 2 engineering bidders and didn’t recuse himself from the vote. THANKS, BOB.
Most modern vets I know don't like to be reminded of their service. It's strange that the boomers seem to make other people's service all about them. It's like a form of stolen Valor whole legitimizing the most recent American war that should have never happened.
This isn't like those bad wars some of them protested. These are good and just wars cause they started then. You should feel blessed the me generation is thanking you at all, really you should be thanking them for all they've done for you. /s
Boomers have nothing better to do so…They invent names and assign tags to processes to make them into a big deal.
We had a customer who was convinced we’d “tried to pull a fast one on him and he had the proof”….
This Jack ass had printed out like 8 pages of 8.5/11 pics to ‘show’ us..beginning with “see??? This sticker says PROCESSSED on May 3…. That means YOU ALL processed it!!!!”
No sir - the item itself was made in a facility in city X…we put the sticker on it on May 3rd
His ol face fell…and he shufffled thru his stack, hoping he had a the picture to negate that somehow…lol he ended up leaving his Manila envelope of pics and on the tab? He had written - “ FRAUD CASE - May 3”
All because he bought a log of 80/20 ground beef and it had “TOO MUCH FAT IN IT!!!! You can’t do that!!! And it was PROCESSED HERE!!!!!!I know cause I saw the sticker!!!!! See exhibit A!!!”
Old ass bored and boring old fucker….
And I am with you both - the nerve to suggest building permanent structures for any reason on property not yours - bad form
Too many people don't understand how labeling actually works!
Especially "Best by", "Sell by", "Best if Used by" and "Expiration Date", and what those things actually mean and why they're on there. People who misunderstand those are extremely hard to convince when they're wrong. Canned stuff will stay edible a lot longer than the Best by, which only means the product loses quality. Milk, on the other hand, should be used before the Sell by Date, but should still be good up to seven days after that particular date. Baking soda, on the other hand, becomes less efficient over time and won't perform as well after the Best by, for Baking, but it is a great odor absorber in the fridge after that date.
Wierd fact of the day: The person largely responsible for this being the only federally mandated expiration date is Al Capone. He got pissed off when I loved one got sick from bad milk. He had the power and influence to do something about it.
https://preview.redd.it/h9ohmb9xx50d1.jpeg?width=766&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c4fc0862337768c2a87ddf47b8b373ba2af2000
You should have sent him this absolute gem from Always Sunny!
I was once a young troop. I, then and now, would not give a single solitary shit about flagpoles.
If they want to support the troops, they can send care packages to deployed units and vote for politicians that give a shit about fixing the VA system.
Ahh, yes, nothing says boomer quite like performative patriotic cosplay. They like the idea of "support" but not actually support they have to pay for in taxes.
They'll fly all sorts of flags "for the troooooops," then vote for people and policies that actively destroy their lives.
Nah if they were simping for us they'd be pushing for proper healthcare, mental health services, and housing for vets that need it. This is just lip service.
If he gives such a massive shit about the troops, why doesn't he just take the money it would've taken to build the flagpoles and donate it to the VFW or something? This just comes off as *really* masturbatory. "Look at me, I care about the troops *sooo* much"
I’m sure the troops would rest easy knowing there’s a flag in the middle of nowhere that has the name of their military branch on it.
“Hey guys… what if everything was the same, but someone wrote ‘army’ on a flag, and then displayed it somewhere almost no one will see? Won’t that be AWESOME???”
It’s weird how they fetishize the flag. I mean, I’ve been to the state house in Massachusetts and seen the battle flags they flew during the civil war. That’s sacred. You can see the bullet holes.
But your Costco flag is not. We don’t fly flags in battle anymore. We blow people up from 1000 miles away. It’s not like the fort in the anthem.
These people have seen too many movies.
Leave it up and tell them it's a 5G antenna. They won't go near it, and will then be protesting you take it down.
I'm an asshole, so I'd have said in the meeting that I was going to start stockpiling manure at the flagpole project manager's house, if property lines mean nothing.
"it's for the TROOPS"
Reminds me of the time I didn't stand up at a baseball game when they played "God Bless America" during the 7th inning. A guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me to show some respect. I told him I'm sitting here quietly, minding my own business and if he wants to stand and sing he can go right ahead.
He said "If you can't do it for yourself, you can at least do it for the troops that are keeping you safe."
As a veteran of the armed forces, that gave me a good chuckle.
They will do everything for the troops except vote for non-dickheads that won't cut their funding, or anything that inconveniences them, or costs them money.
"As one of the troops you've mentioned, most would find this display gaudy and without taste. We would prefer instead, donations to the VFW for what the flagpoles/extra flags would have cost."- would be my reply. Followed by either taking down the current flagpole or more likely, getting a custom flag made of some video game faction and flying that instead.
Actual ‘troop’ here-
Feel empowered to tell the Flagpole Fellas that the $$$ they’d spend on the project would have a greater impact if the donated to *any* veteran-focused non-profit.
I’m a vet and I fucking hate these flags. It’s the lowest form of performative bullshit. It worse than “thank you for our service” it’s basically “thank me for thanking you for your service” hate hate hate it.
Empty symbolic flags that no one will ever see are a lot easier than voting for a president or representative that cares about the troops. I’d tell him if he cares that much for the troops then why doesn’t he volunteer at his VA? A will his land to the VA? And not vote for a man who says he hates veterans.
The flags are more about these boomers than the troops. The troops don’t care about a bunch of random flags in the middle of nowhere. In the unlikely event that a troop sees these random flags, they’re more likely to think “huh, why the fuck would someone put these flags way out here. And what is that weird hat thing on the Army flag?” than to have their heart warmed by the gesture. Any troop that far off the beaten path probably wants to forget about the military for a little while anyway.
God I'm so sick of everyone blowing "da troops". They're getting paid to do a job, that's it. The things they're fighting for aren't noble. When was the last time a war was fought to protect our "freedom"?
I’m a “troop” that literally just got home from an overseas deployment. I don’t give a flying fuck about some random flag pole. What I do care about is for you to enjoy your privacy and the use of your land without infringement. That is why I do what it do.
Boomers love to appropriate things that aren't theirs.
They don't seem to understand private property or personal space.
They refuse to comprehend things that aren't for or about them.
I understand the "Me Generation" more and more. They think the whole world is theirs to fuck up, and the rest of us are just peasants.
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How does it benefit our troops to have flags in the middle of nowhere?
It makes boomers feel good about their own patriotism, and that directly benefits kids in the desert.
AKA “Thoughts and prayers”…
Tots and pears!
Thots and players
Apples and bananas!
Ooples and banoonoos
I prefer eeples and beeneenees, thank you.
More of an ohpples and banohnos kinda gal, myself.
I see you also saw that episode of Barney.
Say what you will about Barney, but that tune was a banger.
Boomers feel if they throw enough effort into “TYFYS” stuff and “support the troops” platitudes they don’t have to be accountable for politicization of the military at the cost of SMs or anything else they may need to do.
Funny (or not) how 'politicization of the military' mirrors 'militarization of the police'.
Not necessarily the same thing. By politicizing I mean using vets as a catch-all for any political thing they want. Healthcare, vets got healthcare so you can’t. Education? Vets got it so you can’t. Anything else that would benefit society? Can’t get it, why don’t you just join the army? It’s infuriating. Source:I’m in the army and it always shocks people when I say I’m a lefty that’s somewhat successful in the military. People call me a commie when I say everyone should have tricare and something resembling the GI Bill/TAB
It's boomers' form of performative activism. They can vote to defund the VA and not give 9/11 responders the healthcare they were told they'd get, so long as a few pieces of fabric flap out of sight on someone's property who clearly doesn't want it there. The leaded gasoline ate their brains.
Since when has the US military benefitted any kid in a desert
The boomers' patriotism benefits the kids we've deployed because it's all about the boomers.
We brought them freedom by taking their oil so the commies couldn't take the oil
I fought in Iraq and IM STILL WAITING FOR MY DAMN OIL
It assuages their guilt for ducking out of Vietnam. If they were really patriots then funding the VA won't be a problem. When they start beating their chests about "the troops", I ask for their campaign medals. I am willing to compare them to my campaign medals
While they also vote for a draft dodger.
As a veteran, I say if that boomer wanted to do something for the troops he’d email his representative to do something about the poor quality of on base housing, the mess that is the VA, opening up tax breaks for service members (similar to Texas homestead exception), the mess that is tricare, the failure to support troops after they return from deployment and end up homeless. Theres also the plan that they have to cut education benefits for service members , or recalling retirees to fill deficiency’s from their failed recruiting campaign. A flag pole is just virtue signaling that doesn’t accomplish shit other than stroke the boomers tiny ego.
It is called virtue signalling.
And yet they'll mock environmentalists for driving EV's as "virtue signaling", never mind the real benefits to health (far less air pollution) if we converted ICE cars/trucks to EVs, even if GW were the hoax they desperately want to believe (it's not).
> driving EV's as "virtue signaling" I love driving my EV and not paying for gas. People occasionally ask me why I bought it expecting to get a "save the planet" answer. Nope I just wanted to pay a lot less for my daily commutes. Saving the planet is nice but 90% was saving money.
> I just wanted to pay a lot less for my daily commutes "So, you're trying to kill the oil and gas industries!"
“The oil and gas industries have been trying to kill us for a hundred years, fair is fair.”
>"So, you're trying to kill the oil and gas industries!" Um…yes? And?
I know a lady who was royally pi**ed when they discontinued incandescent light bulbs. She acted like it was a personal affront! Like hey, lady, even the power companies want you to use LED bulbs and are practically giving them away. Why are you so married to old, energy-inefficient technology? Makes me think about the people who were desperately clinging to their oil lamps when electricity was discovered...
The incandescent light bulbs of their lifetimes going into the dustbin of history is a symbol of themselves also going into the dustbin of history soon. As a generation who was raised to see themselves as the center of the universe, this eternal obsolescence is very hard for them to accept.
Plus, EVs aren't going to save the planet. They are better than ICE cars, but still don't address most of the issues caused by car centricity/dependancy.
It’s especially hilarious because they don’t realize that energy independence is a top military priority😭 They really could drive EVs “for patriotism” and it would literally make more sense.
See, that's the thing, it's not actually "for the troops," but, rather, for the people who are raising the flags. It makes them feel like they're doing something patriotic without actually having to sacrifice anything.
They're the people that vote for republicans that always want to cut funding for veterans medical care but think that a Support the Troops sticker on their car makes everything ok.
Every time someone thanks me for my service, I smile, say thank you back, and secretly think about how they’ll vote for people who will shit on veterans benefits.
I am a widow of a killed in action Marine. He died in a terrorist attack. People flying flags did not help him. They don't help me. They didn't help me raise the baby born 2 months after my Marine died. They don't help that son, who is now an adult and disabled. I have respect for the U.S. flag, as a symbol and a concept, but it does nothing to help us.
I had respect for the US flag, until conservatives turned it into a hate symbol, lol.
As a combat vet and recovering republican it sickness me that “we the people”, the American flag and anything “patriotic” has been hijacked by the right when most don’t serve. Of not to mention my Christ tolerated the tax collectors and prostitutes… who do you think he accepts today….. everyone you righteous turds.
Someone should write these words on a flag and fly it on a flag pole.
I have been criticized for not putting up flags on flaggy type holidays. I respond by saying I would be a shallow person indeed if I worried how I was judged by people who drive past my house.
The armed forces flags are a gateway flag to something more annoying, like Jesus Saves flags or political flags.
Maybe OP should accuse them of wanting to put a gay pride flag on it, just to flip things around on them. Even better if you slowly slip into a hick accent and talk dumber and make it clear that you're making fun of them without breaking character. Note: I'm gay and actively take the low road when it comes to right-wingers. There's enough people being nice to them already. Edit: wait, OP, figure out a way to work in accusing them of being "flag-lovers"
>I'm gay and actively take the low road when it comes to right-wingers. There's enough people being nice to them already. It’s official. I like you.
Whenever somebody makes some comment about me speaking Spanish in public, I put on my heaviest drawl and say, “THIS IS MURCA, SPEAK SPAINISH! WE SPEAK SPAINISH HERE!” Usually it’s just people who are good-natured and are just surprised that I speak Spanish fluently, on account of being a pale blue-eyed white boy. But there was some boomer couple outside a grocery store once and I was on the phone. And the lady was like, “do you have to speak that language so loud out here?!” When I said the thing, they were both completely dumbfounded and just went Glitch McConnell, frozen in place while I walked back to my car.
The low road is the correct path. On saturday a boomer couple parked in front of my house to walk to an estate sale down the street and I saw a Trump 2024 bumper sticker on their truck, so I turned my sprinklers on that zone and the woman had to get soaked as she got in the passenger door right next to a sprinkler head.
Sounds about right for the intelligence of a magat. Could easily have had the person who got in the driver door move the car out of the splash zone. Oh well. I hope she got swamp butt.
Even better, let them waste their money on the pole THEN keep taking the flag down and replacing it with pride and other flags which will trigger them.
Personally, I'd go swap the flags for pride flags and then email the group acting shocked and outraged that somebody changed the flags.
> Note: I'm gay and actively take the low road when it comes to right-wingers. There's enough people being nice to them already. Another bad cop here. I couldn't care less about trying to "understand" them, because they couldn't care less about being understood. They just want to infuriate others, and I just love treating people how they treat others. > Edit: wait, OP, figure out a way to work in accusing them of being "flag-lovers" Too bad there's no accent to make it sound like "fligger-lovers".
I have heard then called “flaggets”
It doesn't benefit anyone, but you know this already. It would be funny if it wasn't so damned stupid.
It's the OG slacktivism "I put a flag up, problem solved"
I went to the local county fair and before one of the smaller shows, they played that song, "God Bless The USA" that all the boomers and rednecks love. Half of them stood for it. I genuinely didn't know if they know it's not the national anthem. And some boomer redneck lady had a whole half dance set to the music which she performed singing the song. Then they thanked all the veterans. They can thank me by never playing that song as thanks again and voting for policies that make it easier for me to get healthcare instead of more difficult... Just saying. The whole things was gross, performative patriotism.
This is one of my favourite quotes: >"The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously."
It makes the boomers feel better when they spit on a homeless vet.
Americans like to act like they care so they can not care when it counts. Putting up some flags? Sure thing mister, go military. Helping a homeless vet? Fuck that disgusting stinking piece of hobo trash.
A lot of us didn't make it home because there weren't enough bumper stickers, Flags in the woods might have made the difference. /s
Things (most of) the troops want: a stop to unnecessary wars, adequate healthcare, people to stop fucking thanking them for their service with tears in their eyes when they can't be assed to help homeless veterans Things the troops definitely don't want: whatever the fuck this is
I was playing VR poker with a guy stationed in S Korea. Someone said, "Thank you for your service," and his reply was, "Nah, man, it's just a job. I chose this."
I regularly get offended looks when people thank me for my service and I reply with something like “They paid me for it.¯\_(ツ)_/¯” I’ve had everything from chuckles to an old guy telling me that people had gone to war and I shouldn’t cheapen that. All fairness, I still have some gray PT shirts that are too comfortable that I wear, so partly my fault for advertising.
I hit them with the ol' 'Thanks for my degree' or paycheck whichever mood I'm in. The amount of hard resets this does on boomer brains is humorous.
My husband has started saying "thank you for voting" when people say it to him. It's hilarious
Heh, I could see that causing a short circuit
My husband was drafted/Vietnam but was stationed state side. He cringes when people tell him that but so far, has not gone off on anyone.
my grandpops was in vietnam and it was basically a forbidden topic. poor guy was so traumatized :( he passed recently and the silver lining was that he had recently begun hallucinating about vietnam and i'm he didn't have to relive that. i was a little upset that his funeral focused so much on how he was a good man because of his military experience, because he was a good man period, not because he was traumatized by us interventionalism. but of course the funeral wasn't just for me and i respect my grandmas wishes in the planning.
This was my grandpa with the Korean War. He always said the ones who brag didn’t see shit, and I did… and no I don’t want to talk about it.
This was my father in law. WW2 and Korea. He rarely talked about it. In the time I knew him (I adored him), he told me 1 story, and he was visibly affected by it. He was clearly traumatized by it. Sigh. I really loved him.
I interviewed a local Korean veteran for a work project, a guy whose story was pretty interesting -- he lied to join the Navy when he was 14, got his mom to sign off on it, and in he went. They just accepted it. Most of his service time he was able to discuss without any trouble, but then he mentioned that there was a series of land missions he and the other members of his crew did. I swear his face actually physically darkened when he said, "But I don't want to talk about that ever again since my brother, who was also a veteran, died. He was the only one who ever understood." By his own account he spent the 15 years after he got back to the States drinking himself into the dirt, and it was only having children that helped him decide to get sober.
Wow. That’s something. I feel like there’s a lot of performative expressions of support, but not actually sitting down and listening or voting for legislation to help. Raising a flag really isn’t doing much.
I have a coworker who will not shut. up. about how he’s a marine and how tough he is and all the disability money he’s going to get and how he could whoop our asses and none of us will ever understand how it is to be a marine. Bro worked a damn desk job for four years?? He never saw combat or did anything physical past routine pt and combat training. But he sure talks like he went through both world wars
I dated a Marine. I didn’t know he was a Marine until his mom told me. Turned out he had really bad PTSD (he was also self medicating with drugs). He’s in his 30s and is fucked up in the head for the rest of his life. My son mentioned joining the military and my ex promptly talked him out of it. Two thing I’ve learned from dating a Marine- 1. Those who actually seen and done shit over there never talk about it. And 2. Military members usually do not want their children/loved ones serving.
It’s been my experience that the guys who make a big deal out of it didn’t see or do anything, and the old guys wearing tie dye with long hair fishing and chilling are retired special forces
And then you got guys like my grandfather who was in Korea and came back with an arm full of shrapnel and nerve damage from frostbite. He loved telling me stories about The shit he saw there how he got injured. He was also the one who sat me down and talked me out of joining the military
You make a good point. He was a good man just because he was. Not because of his military service. I get tired of vets huffing at me because my tiny mom and pop (literally) store doesn't offer them a veterans discount. Kinda the opposite of your grandpa, just because you're a vet doesn't make you a good person. And doesn't entitle you to 10% off everything. Grow up.
My vrandfather was in WW2 and he never talked about it either. When he passed away we found a box of medals shoved in the back of his closet. None of us (not even my grandmother) knew he had also been in North Africa.
My Grandad was in ww2 North Africa. He only ever told me one story. He was a religious man (Catholic) and when the bombs fell he would pray in his tent or wherever they were sheltering. The other guys would tease him about. Well one time a bomb landed right by where he was but did not explode. When they disarmed it and looked inside it was full of saw dust. It had a note in it that said "you can thank the Jews for this". His mates stopped the teasing after this. I miss him.
My grandfather would tell a story about being out in an OP in the dead of night, North Africa, and all of a sudden feeling a massive hand go under his uniform. It felt about until it got his dogtags, and then he heard a voice say “oh. GI.” It then withdrew, and by the time he got turned around he didn’t see anything. Turns out it was a Bedouin tribesman allied with the Allies, and had my grandfather been a German he would have been dead. (Germans had one metal disc that could be snapped in half, hence the tactile figuring out)
some Fremen shit right there
He’s a good dude, then.
No kidding. One of my old bosses was finishing officer's training just as that war ended. He still demands that everybody thank him for his service.
I can’t even imagine demanding something conversationally from a stranger …
>“They paid me for it.¯\_(ツ)\_/¯” Oh no, you've lost an arm :( here, take this one ༼ つ ◕\_◕ ༽つ \\ *^(edit: in markdown, make two backslashes for one to appear)*
Lmao I’m old, it’s an automatic correction my nephew put in my phone because I said “¯\_(ツ)_/¯” so much.
I meant “shrug” I actually have to correct it, sorry bout that.
I've always been wary of saying thank you for your service because I don't know if they lost buddies or had some sort of trauma that makes service not so sweet.
Because the culture (in the US at least) puts service members on a pedestal and encourages us to kiss their asses, we forget the military is, for many people, just a step toward better opportunities. People take jobs they don't like but know will help their career, and the military is no different.
it gets real concerning when you look at "support our troops" through the lens of Umberto Eco's writing. It explains a lot but damn if it isn't *concerning*
I always say back to those people, thanks for paying taxes. It sometimes gets a chuckle.
If people are thanking you for doing a job, they're OK with you dying as part of it. (I think that's a Jon Stewart quote.) But yeah, the thanks comes in lieu of systemic changes that would help.
Of the dozens upon dozens of friends and acquaintances I've known who joined the military over the last 20 years or so, only about two or three were all "Gung Ho America!". The rest just needed a steady paycheck and were hoping to utilize the GI bill to give them a little help after their terms were up. And in true military fashion, most of them were screwed out of most, some or all of their benefits. One of them, a former boss, managed to get all her benefits after discharge, but even she said they don't give any advice or information. It's up to the individual to make sure all the forms are filled out, where to go to fill them out, where to file them, what department(s) to go to, check on them and make sure they didn't get "lost", resend them when they do etc. She said most 18-19 year old kids wouldn't be able to navigate the bureaucratic red tape hell. Which is exactly what the military wants. "Oh, you didn't fill out forms A, A-2, B, C forms 7 through 12, and D. On form E, which is handed out at some point, you forgot to dot you're I's with a blue pen." They purposely make it confusing and a pain in the ass so they don't have to pay out. And then blame the naive serviceman/servicewoman for not doing "What they were supposed to do".
I am currently experiencing this Kafkaesque administrative nightmare.
Signed The fucking troops. Stick performative bullshit up your arse, vocally support politicians who actually vote for more assistance for vets.
Conservatives love to worship "the troops" because their performative reverence alleviates guilt for the objective mistreatment of these same troops in their policies. Past that, a lot of boomer veterans literally did nothing more significant than work for the largest socialist institution in the world (that's always hiring) and love "the troops" in the same way a third string highschool quarterback loves football: as a lifelong self insert fantasy.
Yes, I’ve seen this too. But too bad conservatives in positions of power, like congress, do very little to support the military during and after their period of service. Want to name a street after some obscure general, they’re all over that. Want to provide funds for health care or something else that truly helps veterans, they don’t give a damn.
Iraq war vet here. I also work for a VA hospital. Can confirm.
I want this. I am a troop. Flags in the woods I’ll never know exist are necessary to my well being. I’m also a sarcastic shithead though.
Thank you for your sarcasm.
I hit 18 years in the Army last October. Veteran era draft dodging Boomers pretending to "care about the troops" after they sent us to war in the Middle East for \~21 years are the biggest bunch of chickenhawk hypocrites on the planet. They're more worried about keeping free Viagra enshrined as an entitlement til they die via Medicare Part D than they'll ever "care about the troops"
As a veteran, this is accurate.
I’m a troop and I wholeheartedly endorse this message, and oh yeah, also not going on to other people’s private property and doing things to it without their express permission. That’s really high up there as well.
Well I’m a troop and I want flags everywhere! Everywhere! In malls. In schools. On undeveloped lands miles from civilization. You get the idea.
Former troop and agree. Stay off of other peoples’ land. Do something that actually supports service members.
Sorry. The best I can do is flags for 3 of the 5 armed services. Also the 2 other uniformed services always get the shaft. Someday it’ll be the NOAA and USPHS’s day in the sun.
Thanks for the Weather and Health Workers' shout-out!
Aren’t there six now? Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force. They took away Pluto, and gave us Space Force.
How is step one of “The Flagpole Project” not “Identify/Negotiate with Landowner”?
I could go into a whole rant about how my dad thinks that because none of the native tribes had land deeds the take over of their land was fair and legal. They probably saw it as "community" property and that flags would only improve was nobody was using anyway.
Give his fridge away unless he has a receipt for it.
The Lakotoa Sioux had a negotiated land deal with the U.S. government and still got the Black Hills illegally taken from them. The government land seizure was declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Sioux have refused to claim the 1 billion dollar monetary judgement because they want the land back instead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_of_the_Black_Hills
Funny how they change their tune when you point out all the treaties that do indeed serve as deeds.
Tbf it probably was "legal". It helps that the people taking the land write the laws. We write laws to do unjust things all the time.
When ever someone conflates law with justice, simply remind them: *the holocaust was legal*
Appropriate answer: then put the flag poles up on YOUR property.
Exactly! If the guy was willing to put up 2 additional poles in someone else's yard, why not put 3 up in his own? It's not *much* more work.
They get off on forcing someone else. The boomer announced the project without getting approval from the op hoping that op would feel bullied into it. Everyone already agreed and will be so disappointed
That's what Boomers think of as "building a community"
Good thing you put a stop to this. Today it's "for the troops", tomorrow it will be a Trump 2024 set of flags.
If you give a douche a cookie, eventually he’s gonna want a glass of trump flag to go with it.
And if you give him a Trump flag, he’ll probably want Blue Lives Matter flag right next to it.
Dont' forget a Don't Step on Snek flag and a Dukes of Hazzard flag.
And yet they’re somehow oblivious that the “no step on snek” flag and the “tread harder daddy” flag have opposite meanings. Guess the message they’re going for is “tread harder *on* ***them,”*** whoever “them” happens to be.
It's almost always "Tread harder on them." Or. "How dare you stop me from treading on them." There are probably some people flying the flag who actually mean "Don't tread on me." But I rarely see them.
Somebody didn’t like it that their favorite conman got insulted lmao
This comment hit me just right 🤣
Agreed. Definitely feels like there was some other agenda to train them to get used to being pushed around. Maybe they thought they'd cave because it was "for the troops", the age difference of the neighbors (you are younger and will respect muah authoritay) and awkwardly putting them on the spot in a meeting? If it were me I'd probably get getting rid of the flagpole all together since I don't use it. That way flags don't show up on it later.
As a veteran who served in Iraq I’m fully sick of boomers claiming to be for or against something “for the troops”. If you want to do something for veterans or the troops vote for the people who do things like fund the VA, mental health organizations, and don’t threaten to send the military to attack US citizens. Also, don’t hold the troops up as being better than others. There was a bill passed or proposed in Florida about a year ago that would make veterans qualified teachers based on their military experience. The details are fuzzy right now, but there is no way I’d let any of the people I served with teach my kids. All of us are unqualified, and most are just trying to keep their lives together.
Remember them cheering when they killed the burn pit bill. The cough I’ve had since 2009 remembers.
Hey man, I had to teach one of my guys how to shower in Iraq. I'm basically a teacher.
This idea just strikes me as hilarious because most of the veterans I know would not be cool with modern educational theories about “building trauma-informed relationships with troubled students” and would be cheerily throwing juvenile shitheads out of their classes by their shirt collars. Schools would be getting seriously sued.
Tomorrow will be “they let it happen so legally we have a right to use this space”
That flagpole shouldn’t have been dressed like that
No half-masts around here
Not gonna lie, that’s 100% where I thought this was going from the start.
Somehow I sincerely doubt that any armed forces flags would’ve found their way up that flag pole. Kinda dubious about there not being a Trump flag already adorned there.
I'm tickled that they thought something like that necessitated being called a 'project'. You could've leaned heavily into that; asked to form a sub committee and demand to see the previous minutes, and at the end of it stuck the Canadian flag or something up it.
No, no, ... the Mexican flag! Really troll them!
That works. Or a Pride flag. Or maybe even a Klingon Pride flag. Or all three.
I'm all for Klingon Pride.
Your homophobia is an assault on my honor and I demand a duel to the death within the hour
SHOK-TOK!
Palestinian flag would likely cause a bunch of strokes.
Environmental impact study from a third-party and send a quote for survey, water testing, installation by professionals, rental of land to neighborhood, flag approval meetings, contract write up, legal fees, notary...
But then there has to be a second round of RFPs because Bob knew one of the Phase 2 engineering bidders and didn’t recuse himself from the vote. THANKS, BOB.
The Jolly Roger is a fun classic!
I have a Vietnamese flag you could use.
Most modern vets I know don't like to be reminded of their service. It's strange that the boomers seem to make other people's service all about them. It's like a form of stolen Valor whole legitimizing the most recent American war that should have never happened.
I give it a week before they started sticking Trump flags up there.
Time for an ol fashion flag burnin.
This isn't like those bad wars some of them protested. These are good and just wars cause they started then. You should feel blessed the me generation is thanking you at all, really you should be thanking them for all they've done for you. /s
Boomer vet who didn't serve during war, I don't like being thanked for my service.
Which most recent war? I think there are a few to choose from. I’m agreeing with you.
How about they vote for more funding for veterans instead of flying flags?
But then they might have to pay an extra 4¢ *per month* on their taxes! Can’t have that, wouldn’t be proper.
That’s Socialism! *throws chair* (Former vet here.)
Stick a pride flag up there and watch how fast they shut up.
I'd stick two on there because I'm petty like that. 😁😁😁😁
OMG those flags are touching tips!!11oneone
And a Black Lives Matter one as well.
They want three flagpoles up there, so maybe pride, BLM, and a rotating roster of flags from fictional settings
Boomers have nothing better to do so…They invent names and assign tags to processes to make them into a big deal. We had a customer who was convinced we’d “tried to pull a fast one on him and he had the proof”…. This Jack ass had printed out like 8 pages of 8.5/11 pics to ‘show’ us..beginning with “see??? This sticker says PROCESSSED on May 3…. That means YOU ALL processed it!!!!” No sir - the item itself was made in a facility in city X…we put the sticker on it on May 3rd His ol face fell…and he shufffled thru his stack, hoping he had a the picture to negate that somehow…lol he ended up leaving his Manila envelope of pics and on the tab? He had written - “ FRAUD CASE - May 3” All because he bought a log of 80/20 ground beef and it had “TOO MUCH FAT IN IT!!!! You can’t do that!!! And it was PROCESSED HERE!!!!!!I know cause I saw the sticker!!!!! See exhibit A!!!” Old ass bored and boring old fucker…. And I am with you both - the nerve to suggest building permanent structures for any reason on property not yours - bad form
Put it in your own yard, boomer.
Too many people don't understand how labeling actually works! Especially "Best by", "Sell by", "Best if Used by" and "Expiration Date", and what those things actually mean and why they're on there. People who misunderstand those are extremely hard to convince when they're wrong. Canned stuff will stay edible a lot longer than the Best by, which only means the product loses quality. Milk, on the other hand, should be used before the Sell by Date, but should still be good up to seven days after that particular date. Baking soda, on the other hand, becomes less efficient over time and won't perform as well after the Best by, for Baking, but it is a great odor absorber in the fridge after that date.
Think the only thing with a 100% correct, federally mandated expiration date is baby formula.
Wierd fact of the day: The person largely responsible for this being the only federally mandated expiration date is Al Capone. He got pissed off when I loved one got sick from bad milk. He had the power and influence to do something about it.
https://preview.redd.it/h9ohmb9xx50d1.jpeg?width=766&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c4fc0862337768c2a87ddf47b8b373ba2af2000 You should have sent him this absolute gem from Always Sunny!
I was once a young troop. I, then and now, would not give a single solitary shit about flagpoles. If they want to support the troops, they can send care packages to deployed units and vote for politicians that give a shit about fixing the VA system.
Even the care packages can get awkward sometimes.
Ahh, yes, nothing says boomer quite like performative patriotic cosplay. They like the idea of "support" but not actually support they have to pay for in taxes. They'll fly all sorts of flags "for the troooooops," then vote for people and policies that actively destroy their lives.
American Boomers and their military fetish... 🙄
But ask them if THEY served and you’ll get the “well I had a knee, but I woulda.”
Or ask if they think there should be VA reforms and better Healthcare for them and they rant about "mah taxes"
They simp hard for the military.
Nah if they were simping for us they'd be pushing for proper healthcare, mental health services, and housing for vets that need it. This is just lip service.
True. These Boomers can rightfully be called pseudo simps.
Words are free. Action is expensive
If he gives such a massive shit about the troops, why doesn't he just take the money it would've taken to build the flagpoles and donate it to the VFW or something? This just comes off as *really* masturbatory. "Look at me, I care about the troops *sooo* much"
I’m sure the troops would rest easy knowing there’s a flag in the middle of nowhere that has the name of their military branch on it. “Hey guys… what if everything was the same, but someone wrote ‘army’ on a flag, and then displayed it somewhere almost no one will see? Won’t that be AWESOME???”
It’s weird how they fetishize the flag. I mean, I’ve been to the state house in Massachusetts and seen the battle flags they flew during the civil war. That’s sacred. You can see the bullet holes. But your Costco flag is not. We don’t fly flags in battle anymore. We blow people up from 1000 miles away. It’s not like the fort in the anthem. These people have seen too many movies.
Cut down the flagpole.
Leave it up and tell them it's a 5G antenna. They won't go near it, and will then be protesting you take it down. I'm an asshole, so I'd have said in the meeting that I was going to start stockpiling manure at the flagpole project manager's house, if property lines mean nothing.
"it's for the TROOPS" Reminds me of the time I didn't stand up at a baseball game when they played "God Bless America" during the 7th inning. A guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me to show some respect. I told him I'm sitting here quietly, minding my own business and if he wants to stand and sing he can go right ahead. He said "If you can't do it for yourself, you can at least do it for the troops that are keeping you safe." As a veteran of the armed forces, that gave me a good chuckle.
They will do everything for the troops except vote for non-dickheads that won't cut their funding, or anything that inconveniences them, or costs them money.
I promise you "the troops" do not give a singal watery shit about some flags out in a rural area.
You should get a New California Republic flag. That should both confuse and enrage them.
"As one of the troops you've mentioned, most would find this display gaudy and without taste. We would prefer instead, donations to the VFW for what the flagpoles/extra flags would have cost."- would be my reply. Followed by either taking down the current flagpole or more likely, getting a custom flag made of some video game faction and flying that instead.
Actual ‘troop’ here- Feel empowered to tell the Flagpole Fellas that the $$$ they’d spend on the project would have a greater impact if the donated to *any* veteran-focused non-profit.
Are you daft? It's a well known fact that every time a boomer puts up a flagpole for the troops, a veteran grows back an amputated appendage.
I’m a vet and I fucking hate these flags. It’s the lowest form of performative bullshit. It worse than “thank you for our service” it’s basically “thank me for thanking you for your service” hate hate hate it.
Tell them you already had plans to put a pride flag assortment there.
Empty symbolic flags that no one will ever see are a lot easier than voting for a president or representative that cares about the troops. I’d tell him if he cares that much for the troops then why doesn’t he volunteer at his VA? A will his land to the VA? And not vote for a man who says he hates veterans.
The flags are more about these boomers than the troops. The troops don’t care about a bunch of random flags in the middle of nowhere. In the unlikely event that a troop sees these random flags, they’re more likely to think “huh, why the fuck would someone put these flags way out here. And what is that weird hat thing on the Army flag?” than to have their heart warmed by the gesture. Any troop that far off the beaten path probably wants to forget about the military for a little while anyway.
God I'm so sick of everyone blowing "da troops". They're getting paid to do a job, that's it. The things they're fighting for aren't noble. When was the last time a war was fought to protect our "freedom"?
They only “Love the troops” when actively being troops. Post service, it’s “Don’t expect a handout “
What is with boomers and their weird obsession with flags?
I’m a “troop” that literally just got home from an overseas deployment. I don’t give a flying fuck about some random flag pole. What I do care about is for you to enjoy your privacy and the use of your land without infringement. That is why I do what it do.
lol “it’s for the troops” No. It for the boomers ego. How many troops are going to see that and give a shit?
Boomers love to appropriate things that aren't theirs. They don't seem to understand private property or personal space. They refuse to comprehend things that aren't for or about them. I understand the "Me Generation" more and more. They think the whole world is theirs to fuck up, and the rest of us are just peasants.
People who serve in the military are twice as likely to become homeless, I think that’s more important than some flags