Me and my boyfriend are service members, we were nearing the end of our military contracts and had to decide if we want to re-enlist or get out. I got a job offer that doubled my military pay and had close to the same benefits and I decided to take the opportunity. My boyfriend was offered 50k to sign up for another 4 years and obviously he took the deal.
I didn’t really think about the absurd amount of money until he actually received it and I really just have to look back at both our careers and scoff. We both had full benefits, work for 8 hours 5 days a week (sometimes less sometimes more) paid holidays off, a guaranteed paycheck every two weeks, etc etc and the only requirements were to be in decent health and have a highschool diploma. He has not and will never deploy, not particularly special in any way and is really just an average joe with his career but he got paid FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS to sign a contract saying he will work for 4 more years in a job that has a lower chance of getting shot than attending an American public school (that’s not an exaggeration) and the catch is it’s slightly more demanding than a regular job?? I’ve met minimum wage workers who worked more hours and had it harder than we did for less than 1/4 of my pay. There’s no subsidized health care but the government can fork up thousands of dollars just to bribe my boyfriend to continue working like that wasn’t what he was gonna do anyway outside of the military?? It’s laughable.
Also this is not me shitting on my boyfriend, if I were in his position I would’ve taken that offer too. This is about the US blowing citizen tax dollars