December 27, 2009
I was in my teens the end of “Generation X” and the beginning of “Y.” I saw laziness and disrespect then (and was a part of it), but nothing compared to the current generation. Luckily for me, I was blessed with a father that believed in hard work and taught me a strong work ethic. I worked my first unofficial job at age 13 stamping bolts at a factory and mowing my parents lawn for $3. When I complained about only getting $3 to mow my parent’s lawn, my father responded by saying “okay, now you can do it for nothing.” From even a pre-teen I loved to work and make money. I saved for my first stereo system and my first car. With work ethic and money-making comes giving. The single most important lesson I remember my parents always discussing was the importance of tithe to my church; more directly, continuing to plant seeds financially.
Anyways…with that said…it’s amazing how many lazy, disrespectful, ignorant, lame recruits we STILL have in our Platoon after 10 weeks of training. There’s at least 20 out of the 74 that find it impossible to shut up when they’re told to. They have no regard for the Drill Instructors or even the other recruits in our Platoon. It makes me sick.
We’re STILL fighting, still complaining and still not working as a team. I hope things change by the time we all make it to the fleet.
Another thing that boils my blood is the racial division and comments. Please allow me to speak openly. A few of the white recruits still live with negative stereotypes and a closed mind, and a few of the black recruits are always blaming their skin color as the reason they get in trouble. It’s all stupid to me. We all need to understand that we’re here to serve the same country…and at the end of the day we’re all brothers.
To sum it up…we live in a “you owe me something” generation. It’s that kind of attitude that breeds laziness and an undisciplined mind. Generation X and Y aren’t looking too nasty after being here. I guess that’s the world we live in.
What are your thoughts?
- Recruit Webb
