I work shift work and do most shopping during weekdays. So at Sobeys, Costco, and Walmart you find me, other shift workers, the retired, stay-at-home mom and dads….and members of the military in uniform !! Taxpayers pay your salary not to be at Home Depot at 2pm on a Tuesday or Cdn Tire at 10am on a Thursday. Get back to work!! —Enough-at-ease-already
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2015.
So, by your immense store of knowledge and experience I guess the military don’t do shift work , either? 5:00 o’clock, last one off the ship gets to shut out the lights. No search and rescue in the evenings or weekends? You should have sent this hot news tip to the H^lif^x Mediocrity Co-Crap.
I’m tired OB, just call yourself an idiot….
And I guess he or she also doesn’t realize that the military buy things locally through their individual unit funds.
The military has a colossal amount of waste in its budget. The motto when I was in was always “hurry up and wait”, and probably hasn’t changed much over the years. The military is just another bloated, top heavy arm of the civil service where they hire non-member, unionized help to do the work they should be doing themselves. If I wasn’t training or on course, which was at least 30% of the time, I was sitting around drinking coffee and smoking with the byes. You can’t touch them though, they’re a sacred cow just like police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, etc… that have been given some watered down designation of ” hero”so it makes you look like some ungrateful prick if you speak out against anything they do.
The military maintain the Dockyard, Stadacona, Shearwater, Royal Artillery Park, Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Bedford, and Windsor Park to name a few. These places require maintenance and there is no massive warehouse full of duct tape.
Do you think the thousands of military employees are in trenches all day manning the shores against an enemy invasion?
Perhaps the shift work has your brain scrambled so I suggest you rearrange your schedule to daytime hours so you are not sleep deprived and operating on one brain cell while making absurd assumptions.
OP, do you begrudge firefighters their time not spent fighting fires? I see them at the grocery store buying ingredients for firehouse meals. Heaven forbid they do anything other than fight fires, right? You should thank your lucky stars that there are people who train for and are willing to put their lives on the line to protect yours. Gratitude, not criticism, is the only correct response.
What is your problem? You sound like a very bitter individual. I would avoid you like a plague.
Well Taint while you and your buddies were skiving, the rest of us were working , pulling your weight. I’m glad I didn’t have to rely on you on my six.
Shopper shaming!
Caballo. You saw the latest South Park too? Way funny. Would you like to donate a dollar to…
OB. Who queefed on your fruit loops this morning?
Senor,
I was in the lineup at a certain chain store one day. The clerk, a teenaged female, asked an older gent if he wanted to donate. The guy flipped out and started ranting about it being worse than being hounded by panhandlers on the street. The poor clerk, who was only doing what she was told, was in tears by the time the old guy left.
I don’t think companies should be forcing their staff to canvass for donations. I also don’t think it’s a good way for a charity to raise money. It’s a little too aggressive.
Oh, please. To compare Canadian military to firefighters is absolutely hilarious and inaccurate. I know it’s really popular to praise the military, but this is Canada: our military does VERY little. The kid packing your groceries has a harder job than most of them.
Thank you Naveed, for giving us that foretaste of what the new Trudeau era is going to bring.
Back to the utter ignorance of the realities of military life that most people consider to be a “Canadian Value”
Naveed, Canada must maintain a substantial military capability in order to contribute our fair share to the military might required to maintain a semblance of global stability. Shirking that responsibility would be similar to not participating in global climate change reduction efforts. It would make us a bad global citizen. We also need the capability to police offshore resources and prevent overfishing by foreign fleets.
Joseph, I’m hoping the Liberals will modernize the military and provide them with proper equipment to do their job. This article sounds reasonable to me: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-says-liberals-wont-buy-f-35-planes-use-savings-to-increase-navy-spending/article26446887/
Joseph,
Below is a link to an article that lays much of the blame for our poorly equipped military on cuts to procurement staff and the resulting loss of expertise. I know how important this is from first hand experience with procurement. Having people with the right expertise and experience in the procurement process can keep you from getting hosed and make sure you get the best value for money spent.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/canadas-dystfunctional-military-spending-caused-by-brain-drain-and-budget-cuts-report-finds
Thank you, Caballo. That was a most interesting read. And there is no arguing that our military procurement is and has been a gawdawful mess. From the Ross rifle of WW1 to the cancellation of the EH-101, one could could easily come to the conclusion that when our soldiers get decent kit, it is more by accident than by design. I grew up in a military that had come to loathe Trudeau Sr. because he inherited the idiotic Service Amalgamation put into place by Paul Hellyer under Pearson, and also because of his halving of our N.A.T.O. commitment. But, it has to be acknowledged that his government saw the acquisition of the Leopard tank, the CF-18, the CP-140 Aurora and the Diemaco C-7 and C-8 assault rifle/carbine based on the American M-16 A2. All variants of extremely good weapons systems, used by our major N.A.T.O. allies.
And there is also, no denying, that many of the expenditures on military kit needed for the Afghan mission, like the C-17 Globemaster, the Chinook heavy lift helicopter and upgraded Lav-IIIs, while they came on-line under Harper, the actual acquisition process was initiated by the Martin Liberals. Although a fair observation, in light of facts, it was rather infuriating listening to Trudeau Jr. excoriate Harper for allowing our military to stagnate, especially considering what came before him. The Decade of Darkness where capital acquisitions and even basic salaries and living benefits were frozen but there was no concurrent reduction in the operational tempo of our commitments to Bosnia and other hellholes. It’s no accident that many of our veterans currently suffering P.T.S.D, or who have tragically committed suicide have, not just Afghan tours, but repeated U.N. missions in their service history.
That sort of thing doesn’t come from bagging groceries, Naveed.
Anyone who thinks grocery baggers are going to save his ass needs to check into the real world for awhile.
All I can say OP is that until you take an Oath of Unlimited Liability….go pound sand. CF members have to follow orders 24/7 including having to maim or kill an adversary or, be maimed or killed and that can include something as banal as a training accident. Bro Tim and Koda raise valid points…these service members maybe on Unit/CF business. I doubt it’s anyone’s f@#king business.
The Taint and Naveed…I understand that modern forces require probably 4 or 5 support personnel for every person in Combat Arms. The CF doesn’t differentiate as to the value of service. That’s the nature of teamwork. Having been a Commissioned Officer and also in Airport Security, I can attest to the utter devastation inflicted by the Persian Excursions. We focus on the fatalities but there have been a staggering number of horrific IED and Combat injuries. Stanfield Arrivals at the height of the Rotos was the only proof needed.
So as we head squarely into Remembrance season I just ask for you to be a little circumspect before commenting. My Great Uncle enlisted with the First Five hundred in Humbermouth (Corner Brook), fought in Gallipoli, recovered in a Canadian Field Hospital in Cairo, rejoined his Battalion in March 1916 and went over the Parapet in Beaumont Hamel to never be heard from again. I have a copy of the letter his father sent to the War Office in St. John’s Sept 1916 pleading for his son’s death benefit. The loss of his only son left him devastated emotionally and financially. I am confident that my Great Uncle did a lot of “time wasting” (according to you OP) during his brief service. I can’t begrudge him that.
I remember back in the summer visiting the Halifax Shopping Centre during their renovations. Was with a friend waiting for the elevator as she had her toddler and newborn in a stroller. The only elevator was amazingly busy and who managed to stuff themselves into it? Two Army guys in uniform. Yup, wheelchairs and strollers and these two able bodied individuals couldn’t take the stairs?
That I have a problem with. If someone wants a coffee or got off duty or shift and needed something on their way home, then thats ok by me.
The dislikes always crack me up. Is it the commenter or the comment?
I guess my dislikes feel the Canadian Army needs elevators. Now I feel bad for them 🙂
Yes MacLeod, you’re the only Canadian to have family serve. Both my grandfathers (infantry WWII), my father (Navy) and myself (infantry) served in the forces, so before you comment during this season of remembrance, just remember your family isn’t special and neither is mine.
I pretended to be in the Military once. Does that count for anything?
I just find it weird when I see military types walking around smoking in public. I’d be up marching in front of The Man if I tried that shit in my day. Military culture sure has changed.
The Taint…The narrative I related was not an attempt to elevate any single sacrifice above any other. The narrative is meaningful to me and was for my late Grandmother (my Great Uncle’s sister) who never got over the loss. It isn’t lost on me that War Cemeteries have the same grave marker regardless of rank or valour for good reason. I acknowledge and thank you and your family for the service and sacrifices. There are as many narratives as there have been for all who have served and sacrificed…as valuable and worthy as any other. Regards.