More ridiculousness

I was wounded twice. Once in the head, suffered a TBI spent two months in a coma. The other from an IED. I guess if having a dog makes me a snowflake so be it. Some of you guys need to think before you speak.

 

I was wounded twice, once from an IED and another time from gunfire.spent a little over two months in a coma. I didn't complain, it was my duty and I was glad to do it. But somebody calling me a snowflake because I have a dog p****d me off just a little bit. But to each their own I guess.

 

I appreciate you and what you did over there. No doubt about it. You deserve whatever you need to have in order to cope with what that experience left you with.

There are always people who abuse "the system," like the person on the plane with the emotional support peacock or pygmy goat. That is why I'm skeptical when, for example, a truck driving school instructor/former Swift trainer for 15 years, tells us two of three times he has PTSD and even brings his emotional support German shepherd puppy to school to show him off. The guy was a boom operator on KC-135s. His base got mortared a few times. I mean, good God, who doesn't jump at a loud, unexpected clap of thunder or a car backfiring?

PTSD is used by some military retirees as a scam to get extra money in retirement. Say the right buzz words and phrases, you get disability and extra dough. It (disability claims) used to be confined to big city firemen and police retirees, but that entitlement mentality has spilled over to the military. I had a couple of retiring Air Force friends (husbands of my wife's friends) who, when together, sounded like welfare broodmares exchanging tips and tricks on how to scam the system. "Hey, did you hear about the burn pit disability payment?" "Yeah, I'm going to check into that. Still working on my PTSD thing though. How's your "back" disability payment coming?" "Oh, I'm getting 100%, but don't tell anyone, I'll still be working full time, wink, wink." "Yeah, I need to do the PTSD thingie, too. I saw a plane crash once, and I knew one of the guys on it, so I should get it." I later asked one of the wives what the PTSD buzz words were. She rattled off a list of things to say that would automatically get you diagnosed with PTSD. I am not exaggerating at all.

I was in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. The base was targeted every night for a couple of weeks by Saddam's Scud missiles. It was unnerving being jolted awake at 2 a.m., having to quickly get into MOPP 4 and diving into the closest bunker with sirens so loud you couldn't think straight. It went on for so long that my tent mates and I finally decided that sleep was more important, and we started covering our heads with our pillows and resuming sleeping, but spooning that gas mask.

Heard a very loud explosion early one morning. A Scud hit less than a quarter mile from our tent. We were like, sh#t, that was close! I have a fragment from the crater sitting over there on my desk as a souvenir. I took that bomb fragment back over to Bahrain were my squadron was based. I showed it off as a novelty item.

Even though I had a very dangerous job--EA-6B Prowler naval flight officer--and put my life into someone else's hands every time we went on a mission, I would never want to give the impression that I was some heroic, damaged figure who's been to hell and back. The people who claim PTSD just to get extra money from Uncle Sam, and then go around saying "I have PTSD, I have PTSD, I have PTSD," to me, are almost as bad as the stolen valor people. Needless to say, we don't hang around with them anymore.

 

#### right

 

That needs to be done for many jobs.

Ripped off a fingernail while unloading a truck. The guys outside the truck noticed it before me when they started finding blood on the boxes. I taped a paper towel around the end of my finger and continued working until it was break time, then I delt with it. Had fingers or hand go numb from slamming a box on it putting it on a conveyor belt while unloading, oh well, keep working. Dropped empty pallets on my feet, cardboard papercuts, splinters from pallets, bruises on arms or legs from hitting stuff. Some injuries come with the job and if you can't handle it then you shouldn't be doing the job.

Could you imagine if a mechanic stopped working every time they busted their knuckle loosening a stuck bolt? And nowadays with service animals? For ####s sake. Wish a place could just say "No, it's not our fault your a #####.". (btw, I do know that there are people who truly need them, it is more directed towards the ones that take it to ridiculous proportions or abuse it).