You know, that quote was a long way from this one below.
Maybe you should have taken some of that advice you dispensed so freely just a few weeks ago.
Let me break this down for you.
I quit counting memorial services for my brothers when I had attended 21 of them. Imagine a couple of your best friends being killed every month for ten years. That is what we are dealing with now. Mistakes get people killed. Doing the right thing can get people killed. Helping people can get you killed. And sometimes, doing nothing at all can get people killed as well. We are people who have serious jobs, and have to have a serious attitude. People who fail to follow simple instructions piss us off.
Have you spent a lot of Christmases in some austere location, missing your family? Have you gone a year without a beer, because someone else thought you should? Have you been injured risking your life for people you do not even know, and who probably wouldn't like you or appreciate it if they did? I am not altogether certain that people who do not have to deploy, shower, sleep, and share blood with their coworkers should be telling us who we have to accept and how we should change our attitudes. My beliefs are my own. Not an apology, or an excuse. Just the way it is. BTW, what you have done for your country today?
Some of us are pretty damn funny, too. It helps to break the tension. Occasionally.
Most of us are fathers. We do FID and UW in some of the worst places on this planet to help the locals out. We get the helping people grow and guiding those less fortunate than ourselves bit. At the same time, as noted, this is our house, and you are a guest. You are entitled to express your opinion. Respectfully. Do not be surprised if people disagree with you. If you do not put down the shovel in time, then you run the risk of getting dogpiled. Probably happens some in one of those bars you mentioned. Someone has one too many, opens his mouth at the wrong place and time, and gets knocked on his ass. If he is smart, he shuts up, nurses his next drink, and comes back again for another night. Or he can open his mouth again and make it worse. Sometimes, much worse. You know the deal.
Things will occasionally get heated among ourselves, but mutual respect is always afforded to brothers, and we try not to make our pissing contests public. You are not a brother. You are not even the friend of a brother. You will not get that tolerance here for a long time, if ever.
If reading this board and the way we act disturbs you, visit another of the millions of forums out there. I don't come here to read what you think about us, good, bad, or indifferent. I don't care what you think. I believe that life is too short to be concerned with you and your opinions. If you want to stay, accept the rules we place on guests and conduct yourself accordingly. If you really want to jock up and be one of the brothers, see a recruiter. Once you have a beret, a couple of years on a team, and a deployment or two, come back, get vetted, and jump right in with both feet. If you are a brother, and you piss off a guest, I will always have your back, at least publicly.
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Have a very SF day.
TR