My 21 yr. old son, Ridiculed at work by 2 Army Recruiters

[mopaul]

my son recently got a job at the local mall, and he was approached by two men appr. his own age who were both recruiters, on their lunch break, in uniform. they struck up a conversation with him and several times asked him if he was joining the army soon.

he told them he had no plans to join the army, but respected the military, like i taught him. then the ridicule started. they called him a punk and asked him if he was prepared to work at '---' forever. they suggested that he 'make something of his life' and stop wasting it being a mall employee instead of fighting 'over there' where he's needed.

my son held his ground and respectfully asked them to leave him alone while he's on the job, and suggested they waste their time on someone else.

they are getting real hardcore about their recruiting techniques. and they approach any young man they run across, anywhere on the street or parking lot. and they'll approach very young men too, 13 and up.

my son was very respectful to them both until they started riduculing and needling him about his manhood, and inferred that his life was useless unless it was turned over to the military.

[Throckmorton]

1. I would have told them,

Seig Heil Mien Fuhrer !!!

[Cha]

20. Why aren't they "over there"?

They're the lucky ones in this war based on lies that Joe Wilson tried to correct and got his wife outted as a CIA agent for his trouble.

The unlucky ones are "over there" getting their ass handed to them.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

29. My thoughts exactly...

If they're so 'effing eager to prove their manhood, perhaps they should be volunteering for duty in Iraq.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. "Make something of his life"

At least he will be alive to have one.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. That's disgusting

The recruiters are getting desperate and nastier. Who wants to die for a lie?

[bryant69]

4. What crap!

I mean Military Recruiters have a job to do, and right now that job sucks, but that kind of behaivor is still total crap.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Vickers]

5. Ask them why they don't have a rifle in their hands.

Recruiters have a job to do, but you can turn it around on them.

"Hey man, too chicken to actually serve?"

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, recruit."

etc. etc.

"my son was very respectful to them"

Good for him. He showed himself to be a better person.

[indepat]

They need the likes of your 21-year-old-son for those who support W

ain't likely gonna offer up their sons and daughters.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

6. I'd of said, talk to me later

when the lsd has worn off.

[blondeatlast]

7. That's harassment of the worst kind, but how can it be stopped?

I'm willing to bet that there's a recruiting station at that mall, too.

Disgusting.

[JohnnyBoots]

8. Should have asked them if Halliburton was hiring, "I hear they get

paid ten times as much as you Army guys for doing a lot less work."

[sendero]

14. Nice :)

That would piss the idiots off :)

[BiggJawn]

9. Getting ready for the Press Gang...

Soon they won't "strike up a conversation", they'll just walk up and grab young dudes...

[JohnnyBoots]

22. Default on your Student Loans and they ship you off to Iraq,

what a scary thought.

[LiberalEsto]

10. Give them contact info for the Young Republicans

and tell them to go start recruiting guys who support the war.

[Greeby]

11. Hmm

I'm guessing the reason behind this is, the Pentagon is shipping everything that looks remotely human on it's payroll into Iraq. And if they don't meet their quotas, they're next

[BlueJazz]

12. Your Son sounds like a class act.....

He seems to have the desirable qualities that make for a "Real Man" and not some phony Macho creep. :)

[blondeatlast]

13. Defy mom and drop out; the army needs you--from Mother Jones

(snip)
*Hispanic Barriers to Enlistment: a project to "identify the factors contributing to under-representation of Hispanic youth among military accessions" and "inform future strategies for increasing Hispanic representation among the branches of the Military."

*College Drop Outs/Stop Outs Study: a project "aimed to gain a better understanding of what drives college students to? ?drop out' and determine how the Services can capitalize on this group of individuals (ages 18-24)."

*Mothers' Attitude Study: "This study gauges the target audience's (270 mothers of 10th- and 11th-grade youth) attitudes toward the Military and enlistment."

During the Vietnam War, Hispanics took disproportionate numbers of casualties and similar disparities have been reported in Iraq. JAMRS, apparently, is looking to make certain that this military tradition is maintained. Additionally, eyebrows ought to be raised over a Pentagon that is looking at ways to influence the mothers of teens to send their sons and daughters off to war and at a military eager to study what it takes to get kids to "drop out" of school and how the military might then scoop them up. Perhaps the most intriguing line of research, however, is the "Moral Waiver Study" whose seemingly benign goal is "to better define relationships between pre-Service behaviors and subsequent Service success." What the JAMRS informational page doesn't make clear, but what might be better explained in the password-protected section of the site, is that a "moral character waiver" is the means by which potential recruits with criminal records are allowed to enlist in the U.S. military.
(much more)

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/07/army_of_no_one.html

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Gee, Brilliant Marketing Approach, There!

That's just stupidity. Who's going to join ANYTHING after being insulted by the people who are supposed to be making the decision look attractive?

Idiots.
The Professor

[catmandu57]

16. McCaffery was on the news again last night

Screaming about how thinly stretched the military was right now. While I don't respect his position and action on the so called "war on drugs", it takes someone like him to be saying this.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

17. That's a pyramid scheme sales technique!

When my BIL was an Amway salesman, no matter who he was approaching, he would frame the person's job like it was the crappiest thing in the world and act like the only escape was through the riches of becoming an important, successful Amway distributor.

What could be more normal than a 21-year-old working at a mall? Those type of service jobs are good experience for the work world, I can't stand snobby people who denigrate jobs like that.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Be a real man. Join up and kill people because you're told to.

Make something of your life by taking others.

[wicket]

19. Glad your son held his ground!

Here in Boston I see the recruiters trawling Downtown Crossing everyday on my lunch break- they are getting seriously desperate!

[Just Me]

21. Utilizing shame and bully techniques,...

"You suck. Your life sucks. GO ARMY!!!"

BAH!! Assholes.

[Mr_Scarecrow]

23. Good boy!

Resist those darn bullies.

[goforit]

24. I am so proud of your son. He should not be proud of this war!!!

[tabasco]

25. Call the local recruiting office.

Ask to speak to the commander.

Make sure you are speaking to a Captain or higher.

Report the incident.

Tell him if you hear of his recruiters acting like this again you will go to the press and the next higher commander with your complaints.

That should help.

[atommom]

26. Good idea!

The bullying tone doesn't really surprise me, but the way things are going, they should be careful about incurring more bad publicity.

[two gun sid]

27. That most definately will help...

also, make sure you get the names and rank of everyone you speak to. The recruiters and their CO especially. The recruiters all wear name tags.

[question everything]

31. My thoughts, exactly

There ought to be a channel to complain about such harassment.

Just a thought, would they have left him alone had he told them he was gay?

[Deja Q]

28. Aren't they worth dying for?

:sarcasm:

[bluestateguy]

30. Thugs

We hear a lot of whining from the Right much of the time that we on the Left don't respect the military. Respect, first of all is earned, and it does not come automatically because you wear a green uniform. Second, the military has an obligation to respect civilians, which clearly these two boys did not.