Political Correctness

[Roddoss72]

Originally Posted by gi-rene

PC-ness for most of us in the military goes right out the window. At least in company of our brothers. One thing you learn (especially as a Marine) is that personal feelings are tertiary. Ironically enough some of the very un-PC humor we come up with is very well thought out and a lot of times is a perfect satire of those who remain PC.

Case in point. Myself as an example. I'm abstinent by choice. Not religious, not any influence, just my own personal choice. I hear about my virginity at least once a day. Do I care? Nope, could care less. In the civilian world, if I wanted, I could make giant dog and pony show about how its a hostile work environment.

We have Equal Oppurtunity reps in place in case of serious cases, but the good thing is most of us know when we push the line too far. We especially don't talk to people outside of the Marines or even our own units like that. We don't trot downtown San Diego calling people names or telling jokes to the civilians. Its kept in the brotherhood, because we know that the men and women around us are our "relatives" and we all know there's no harm meant by a lot of our jokes.

I actually fear going back to the civilian world, I may say something that could get me in trouble, its a bad habit "out there" but a good one here, it keeps us on the alert, we keep our wits about us (for those snappy comebacks) and especially it hardens us against our own emotions, when the time comes that the crap hits the fan, we won't care about all those petty things some make a big deal about.

For sure there are some real biggots and racists and sexists out there, and I think they need to knock that crap off. But as they say, the spoiled apple ruins the rest.

Salutations Gi-Rene

Well it is a big bad world out there in civvie street especially if you have to deal with women, in the modern world i have found out to my detrement that the majority of women these days don't have a sense of humour and take themselves far too seriously.

Regards

Roddoss72

[Tom Houlihan]

Originally Posted by Roddoss72

... the majority of women these days don't have a sense of humour and take themselves far too seriously.

That doesn't just apply to women. It applies in general to far too many people, period!

I, personally, refuse to take myself too seriously. Cuts into my fun....

[Roddoss72]

Originally Posted by Tom Houlihan

That doesn't just apply to women. It applies in general to far too many people, period!

I, personally, refuse to take myself too seriously. Cuts into my fun....

Salutations Tom

Yeah i know, i am as mad as a cut snake, hell the day i take myself seriously then the world is in trouble.

Regards

Roddoss72.

[Freightshaker]

Originally Posted by Tom Houlihan

I, personally, refuse to take myself too seriously. Cuts into my fun....

I also refuse to grow up. What fun would that be?

[Roddoss72]

Originally Posted by Freightshaker

I also refuse to grow up. What fun would that be?

Salutations Freightshaker

Me too, i am the only 42yr old child with voting rights, i'm glad i did not grow up to be an adult.

Regards

Roddoss72

[Tom Houlihan]

I hafta get older, but I ain't growin' up!!

Anybody got a poster of Peter Pan??? The new Lost Boys!!

[Leatchy]

My picture in the attic is looking worse everyday. Me, I 'aint getting older or more sensible.

[Geek44]

Well in my opinion, there's PC and then there's stupid. There's a place for proper decorum and respect when dealing with other people...even if one doesn't feel respectful. I once watched my boss bawling out an over weight female employee over some stupid triviality...in the end, he referred to her as 'a fat bitch'. In my experience, inside every 'fat bitch' is somebody who's suffering every day with some very deep emotional baggage and they feel disempowered enough. I don't think I'm alone when I say this behaviour was waaay out of line and 'PC' is the thing we have to prevent that kind of behaviour even though it doesn't always work.
Let's be careful about the very term 'PC'. People seem to think it's some kind of gag or even a violation of one's right to free speech. It's not. It's like politeness. I had a profound 'penny drop' moment as a kid when somebody told me that being polite wasn't actually about 'controlling' me or 'manipulating' me, it's about putting others at ease when they're in my company. PC is exactly the same. PC, when not utterly hijacked by people is a good thing. When the hijackers get onto it though it's just ridiculous. I remember hearing that in certain circles in this town, they were looking to ban the use of the word 'girl' from the media. They felt that the term 'girl' was a device used to sexualise young females before they'd reached adulthood (they were barking up the wrong tree for that issue). They preferred the term 'pre-woman'.

[Freightshaker]

Originally Posted by Geek44

I once watched my boss bawling out an over weight female employee over some stupid triviality...in the end, he referred to her as 'a fat bitch'.

That's not un-PC, that's poor management and leadership. Very unprofessional.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Freightshaker

That's not un-PC, that's poor management and leadership. Very unprofessional.

You're absolutely right. When subordinates see a manager treating someone that way it hardly motivates them to want to work hard for the guy. Beyond that, it's plain old rude.