This is a letter to Uncle Sam in response to him telling me “if you want to be free of debt, I want you to serve in the military!”
Dear Uncle Sam
It’s very very frustrating when I hear someone say that or anything similar.
First of all, nobody should feel forced to put their life on the line for the most powerful military in the world in order to survive. Sure, I get there should be benefits for those who do volunteer their life for our country, those people should get the best benefits. But it shouldn’t be a requirement of survival like it is now.
Secondly, joining the military in and of itself is not a walk in the park. I have been involved in very active sports including football, track and combat martial arts. I was interested in joining the armed forces. I was 16 when I finally went to speak to a recruiter, he asked if I had asthma and I said yes, and he immediately hung up the phone after saying that I was disqualified for serving the armed forces. A couple years ago, I tried again to talk to a recruiter for the armed forces, and I was told then that I wasn’t allowed to join until I was completely off my meds for one year. I talked to a psychiatrist about joining the armed forces, he supported me , and (dumb of me) I tried to go cold turkey on taking my meds. Due to this, I had a breakdown (twice actually).
Fast forward to present day. I take my meds on a daily basis, but I feel really good physically and mentally, and once again I am trying to do what I can to join the armed forces. I talked to a recruiter and I was transparent about those two conditions and I was told I would need to send the recruiter my medical papers. Now, I am optimistic that this time I’ll get off my meds the right way and I was told by my asthma doctor that my asthma level was adequate (probably due to the increase of my excersize). However , with this optimism comes the fear that I won’t ever be allowed to join the armed forces due to circumstances outside of my control. This is why it’s personally frustrating when I hear someone say that “if you don’t like your job just join the military” like believe me I’ve tried and I’m still trying , but in the meantime here I am stuck at a really stressful job with an emotionally abusive boss just to try to make ends meet. Like Goddamn Uncle Sam, I’m trying to do what you want.
Sincerely,
A wanna be “upstanding civilian”
P.S. my dad served in the military and he’s still paying off his student debts …
Edit:I’m using my iPhone and for some reason when I post it dosen’t use the paragraph spacing that I see before it posts.