Mildly Infuriating @lemmy.world Zagone @lem.clinicians-exchange.org 2y ago

"Thank you For Your Service"... During the Revolutionary War!

I have a "baseball cap" style hat that I bought about 8 years ago and have rarely worn since.

It is in the style of all the navy veteran military ship caps commonly in use today in the USA, and I believe it was even made by the same company that makes hats for crew and military veterans.

Here's the thing though -- this is a cap for the USS Constellation -- a FULL RIG SAILING SHIP in use from 1797-1853 (see https://historicships.org/explore/uss-constellation ). I bought it from a tourist display stand!

I am walking around Disney world this week and I keep getting "THANKED FOR MY SERVICE". Okay -- kind of amusing as I would have had to serve in the REVOLUTIONARY WAR -- but then I do nothing to purposefully pose as ex-military (which is very uncool). CAN PEOPLE NOT SEE THE SAILS ON THE BOAT?

My brother thinks I should make light of it ("yes, I served -- I climbed the rigging and packed the gun powder... you should have seen those Brits run! Avast ye mates! Walk the plank!")

I'm thinking of finding another cap to keep my bald head from sunburning... What do you think?

-- Zagone

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This public „thanks for your service“ thing is so weird to me.. Here in Switzerland you have actual soldiers sitting next to imyou in the trains at the beginning and end kf the week. Most of them haven’t joined voluntarily and even the ones who did, no one would ever think about thanking them for thei service. It’s a job like any other, or a mandate for most. Same for surrounding countries who don’t have mandatory military duties.

I find it particularly weird in the US where the most common reason for someone to join the military is to pay of debt or because they pay for your education. My responds to that would be “Stop thanking me and maybe vote for people who wanna change the system so I don’t have to put my life at risk to be able to study.”
- The simple answer is that it is much cheaper and easier to make a Veteran holiday once a year, and thank people for their service instead of actually caring for them when they develop ptsd or are crippled in the line of duty. Especially when you have such an overblown military as the United States.
- I mean, the Swiss army hasn't been doing too much for like 200 years, even though it would probably have been needed if it didn't exist
  
  They did invent a pretty useful knife, so I suppose it would be nice to thank them for that. /s
  
  To be entirely fair the us military hasn't been of that much use to the American public since it's inception.
- Therein lies the difference. In your system it is compulsory. In ours it is ultimately voluntary, hence the thanks. That being said, folks should know better than to thank a sailing ship hat wearer unless it is the USS Constitution.
  
  Even if it is voluntary, what exactly are you thanking them for when you thank them for their service? Very confused.
According to your link, the museum ship is the Sloop of War, the second USS Constellation, that went after slave traders during the Civil War.

I can't tell at a glance which ship is on your hat, the sloop or the original frigate known as the Yankee Racehorse, because I don't know anything about different sailing ships.

Either way, you're certainly not "stealing valor" by wearing a hat that celebrates these fine ships.

Depending on the situations you could seize the "teachable moment" and tell the person a little about the ship on your hat. "What? Oh this is the famous Revolutionary/Civil War ship, see it's a frigate/sloop with sails. She ran the British blockade/ captured slavers and defended America."

If it's in passing, you could just let it pass. You probably didn't understand the first couple of times, you could pretend you still don't. "Thank you but I'm not military" is an option as well.

It's probably best to avoid sounding like you're making fun of people who join the armed forces.

It's a nice hat!
- Its the frigate.
  
  I wouldn't "play along," but but a smile and nod or a simple "thanks" is probably ok.
Americans are weird 07
Just thank them back. We’re all taxpayers
- Not all of us, LOL! (Don’t tell the IRS!!)
  
  Nothing is more American than dodging your taxes.
  
  Thank you for your service.
Technically her sister ship is still active duty

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
To be fair, you can't really see what kind of ship that is from more than 10 or 15 feet. The lettering is big, but from afar you just see a white blur of a ship. And if you're tall it makes seeing the ship clearly even more difficult.
Got told "thank you for your service" AGAIN today. I think maybe Disney employees are under command of The Mouse to say it.

24 comments