Well made points. I just disagree that army life would be the
be-all and end-all of everything a man should stand for. I have met
people in other fields who have excelled and contributed a lot to
society but would likely fail horribly in the green
machine.
I think failure in the army COULD, but doesn't ALWAYS mean
mental weakness. Living/working together with a lot of other people
in a highly regimented life is something not everyone can do. And
just because people fail to adapt in this specific environment, I
can't agree that they should be in IMH.
likely ? .... did they or didn't they ? ... have they served NS
or not ? ... but that's beside the point of course, I think you
have miss-understood the gist of what i was trying to say .....
of course, not everyone can stand the rigors of regimentation
... i didn't like it all that much myself ... I'm sure most of us
didn't ...
The real issue here, is not even really about mental weaknesses,
or failure to adapt to the army. Like I said in a preceeding post,
I agree that not everyone can stand what almost everyone else
withstood ... fine ... not a problem ... people are made
differently .... I even gave examples ... perhaps the IMH part was
a bit harsh, I stand corrected.
It is about INTEGRITY.
Back to my example, and I quote myself again; how would you
conduct yourself in an environment where everyone had to do their
equal share ? ... would you, for example, start a business with
someone whom you know would grab a bigger slice of the pie if he
can get away with it ... would "jiak" you if he could ? .... would
you trust someone like that ? take him as a partner ? .... would
you employ a person whom you know would see things only in terms of
his own career path and personal gain ? ... would you hire him,
knowing that he would slack when the boss is not looking ? .....
would you trust such a man as a friend, or for the ladies, want
such a man as a life partner ? ....
Sure, the army is not the be all and end all of life ... not all
of us ended up with ranks and garang vocations, I do not see
success and failure in the army in those terms at all ... but
I stand by what I said ... it is NOT what you are in the army .. it
is what you do, how you behave, that would tell on you and your
character ...
If this "boyfriend" of the TS has problems adapting to the green
machine, hated the regimentation, hated having to follow the rigid
rules, etc, and got into a "depression", he'd have my full
sympathies ... cos it'd likely to be a true case of maladjustment
... fine ....
but his real issue here ... is that he tried repeatedly to seek
special treatment for himself, and got into a "depression" because
he can't get the 8-5 he wanted for his own selfish reasons, and
then now the TS (him ? ) is trying to find ways to exploit the
system to get what he wants ? ... again, for the third time, what
does it tell you if his case of "depression" can be cured magically
when he gets what he wanted, really ? ... you think it's a genuine
case of maladjustment ? ... of failure to adapt to army life ?
...
If the TS is really concerned about the depression .. then why
come and ask, how can he get an 8-5, how can he get what he wanted,
(read: where are the loopholes and where to exploit them ? )
instead of focusing on how he can seek treatment for his
"depression" ? ... doesn't that say a lot about their thought
process, doesn't it say a lot about what the real issue is ?
I cannot respect a man like that ....
