I have a friend I met that was a Marine Gunnery Sergeant on recruiting duty years ago. I would occasionally do something with him. We had plans to do something or another after he got off of work and I dropped by a little early, went into the recruiting office and sat down in a corner to wait for him.
In walked a concerned mother that said her son had just enlisted and she was concerned. The Gunny asked her son's name and confirmed the young man had enlisted and was going to be headed to boot camp in a short time.
The mother indignantly asked the Gunny, "You're not going to teach him to use guns and things like that, are you?
That's got to be the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life.
I do recall interupting and asking the Gunny if he wanted me to do the explaining and the Gunny said he'd do the explaining.
When he told me he'd handle it she snapped and said she wanted to hear it from me. Apparently she had mistaken me for the father of another recruit.
I promptly told he her son would be taught to gouge out a person's eyes, break their ear drums, cut throats, crush testicles, shoot people, stab people and operate all sorts of firearms and other weapons, blow people's arms and legs off, burn them to death. I added that when he graduated from his training he would be a trained killer praying for war so he could try out his newly acquired skills.
I also told her he'd learn how to keep things clean, make his bed and take care of himself and learn to live among a group of trained killers on a daily basis.
When I was through she looked at the red faced Gunny who shook his head an agreement and said, "That's about it."
She said, "We'll see about that!" and stormed out.
Shortly after the kid shipped out.
Some time later I asked about the kid and the Gunny told me there was a real horror show at Parris Island when the mother showed up and demanded her son be released.
Apparently he got pulled out of training for a few hours and a couple of officers pressured the kid to sign a release of some sort that would discharge him. I was told they try and get rid of a kid like that because the parents often go to congressmen and it sometimes causes them grief. It's a lot easier and politically expedient to release the trainee.
The kid refused to sign and demanded to be returned to his platoon. He was returned and graduated with his platoon.
Still, asking a Marine recruited if they were going to teach her son to use guns and things rates up there pretty near if not at the top of the stupidity list.
It wouldn't have been nearly so bad if she'd asked about the Navy or the Air Force but to ask something like that about the Marine Corps is outright total stupidity.
Have you not ever done anything stupid? How did you get thru 70 years without stupidity? You can't be that perfect or you aren't human. Yes, that was a stupid question. sr
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