Soldier Boy

Tomorrow's the day... Little bishie boy Insomniac Weasel is going to leave home and join the ranks of the IDF. Well, he would after boot camp, anyway, but that's much the same thing, since he won't be seeing much of home either way.

So I'm not really dying, and I guess even in the coming three years, I'll probably still have time to go to TV Tropes once in a while. Still... I guess it'll never really be the same. In the last six months, ever since I graduated high-school, it was only free time, all the time. And now that I think about it, though it didn't feel this way back then, it was really much the same all through the 11th and the 12th grades. Sure, there were tests, and I had to study for them, but... well, you know.

And now there will be boot camp, and then army service itself... And university, perhaps, or maybe after the service. Then work.

I am not good at that, so I won't get really sentimental, and it might be strange to say such a goodbye to people on the forum of an international website, none of which I've ever met and probably never will, when I haven't so much as shed a tear in front of grandparents and such.

But I wanted to say goodbye, and I wanted to thank you. It may sound pathetic, but I really think that over the last few years, TV Tropes has changed me. More so than many of my teachers did. More so than a few of my friends. I think I first came here... four, maybe five years ago? I was still in middle school. The first trope I saw was "Rule of Cool"- clicked a link from a thread in an Israeli tabletop games forum which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist anymore.

TV Tropes, over the years, has changed the way I think. It has changed the way I see the world, the way I see other people, and the way I see myself. It has changed the way I create think, and they way I see other people's creations. It has expanded my horizons. It taught me how to search for new ones. It consumed a lot of my time- far more that was necessary, probably. It made me laugh a lot. It made me think a lot, about big and small things, less and more important things.

It was with me throughout much of my teenaged life. "We"'ve been through a lot together. Through it's lens, I've experienced much, or so I would like to believe. I loved, I suffered, I hurt, I hurt others, I regretted, I realized many things about many things.

I have only recently joined the TV Tropes community per se- but you have all been very kind to me. You have been helpful. I learned a lot from you. I would like to believe that some of view learned from me.

Goodbye, for now, and thank you very much.

Good night unto you all.

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent."

I salute you, Weasel. I remember we didn't get along, initially, but I can safely say that you've helped change my opinion of the people of Israel, and for the better at that.

Good luck in the military, my friend. If I were religious, I'd pray that your time there would be boring and uneventful, but unfortunately Israel isn't that kind of country.

Either way, though, I wish you well.

I am now known as Flyboy.

Take care, man.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

You may well be the first Troper who starts a thread about his leave for boot camp and actually manages to leave for it.

"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"

<salute>

I do not care for any armed forces, nor armed conflict, but I care for soldiers and the risks they take protecting the people they love, and the nation they care about.

Go forth and serve, and may the gods look down upon you with favour, and that your tour of duty is not fraught with too much danger.

{Off-topic and inflammatory. Don't do that, Anne. —Madrugada}

---

I wish you good luck!

edited 5th Dec '11 8:05:27 AM by Madrugada

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.

@Gacek, Anne: Granted, he does live in a nation where military service is mandatory, so...

edited 4th Dec '11 1:02:20 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Cheers and good luck to you.

I hope he joins the ranks of tropers who come back safely from their service to tell us all about it.

All the best, my ermine friend. Remember, bullets and RP Gs have the right of way, and don't argue over it with them.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

Be safe, and remember that in boot camp, you're meant to fail at certain junctures in the program. Sometimes, perfect still isn't good enough.

Just do your best not to fail when it's optional, easier that way all around.

Work hard, work/fight/think smarter not harder, keep your head down, and good luck.

Who watches the watchmen?

Oh, IDF. Things are getting dicey over there. Stay safe.

By the way, nice to meet you.

Edit: Who am I kidding, it's always dicey over there.

edited 4th Dec '11 6:04:58 PM by DirectorCannon

"Urge to thump... rising." -Fighteer

{Off-topic and responding to flame bait. — Madrugada}

edited 5th Dec '11 8:06:09 AM by Madrugada

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

Let's not follow the derail; this is about Weasel and his tour in Israel, not about other tropers' flirtations with service, however brief.

I am now known as Flyboy.

Thank you, USAF.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

My hats off to you sir. And I share this Gaelic blessing for you

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Come back soon.

It was an honor

I now have the image of some guy standing up on a battlefield shouting "Not it!" to all the ordinance headed in his direction.

Good luck, Weasel! Make sure you come back and tell us all about it, so the other veterans can mock your piddly efforts during basic training.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

lol, he'd be lucky to get to the "It!" Weasel has more sense than that, I'm sure.

edited 5th Dec '11 11:03:13 AM by RadicalTaoist

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

Be a guard in the middle of the night. Your route: thirty meters of dusty nothing between two buildings and a fence. You know that there are supposed to be some three other guards around this part of the base. In the gap between two buildings, you can see the shadow of one of them passing.

The other ones are hidden from you.

You are bored as hell, and there's everything on your mind except guard duty.

It's freezing, even with the coat you're wearing. More freezing than you ever thought a middle eastern country can be, even at night.

You're hungry.

You have to use the bathroom, really badly.

You're tired, and you peek at your watch every three seconds and groan when you find out that only three seconds have passed.

Your only desire in the world is to peek at your watch and see 4:30 AM, and then go back to your quarters, wake up Gabai for his shift, and return to your bed.

It's pitch black, and nothing is visible outside of the small patches of yellow light surrounding the various lamps around this part of the base.

At this point of your training, you're not even allowed to carry a real weapon yet. If something does happen, you're pretty much screwed.

"I'd take out my own flashlight, but it's such a bother, I'm tired, I'm bored, I'm cold, and fuck guard duty. What are the odds of anything happening today, anyway?"

You couldn't care less at this point about anything that happens more than ten seconds after your shift ends. Let the base blow up for all you care.

Silence.

Darkness.

MFW the terrifying realization that I officially became one of those nameless guards from MGS or Deus Ex heroes snipe with impunity or choke from behind, and there's nothing I can do about it.

From now on, guard duty will forever be two hours straight of pants pissing paranoia and checking over my shoulder for a Palestinian infiltrator with thermoptic camo and a silenced pistol.

...

"I'll Make a Man Out of You" (the English version, because the Hebrew translation was positively atrocious) is playing in my head constantly during training.

Feels awesome and painful.

Next chance to access my computer in about two weeks from now (we were supposed to get another one next saturday, but our company has to stay in the base as garrison). Never thought I'd be so thankful that I live in a country where no place is ever more than a two hours drive away, so the army can actually afford to give soldiers a break every week or so, even during basic training.

Expect further news then. Thank you for thinking about me!

edited 10th Dec '11 1:52:51 AM by InsomniacWeasel

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent."

Holy shit, they give you breaks to use the computer?! O_O

LEMME SPEAK TO YOUR SERGEANT SON.

Apart from that, yeah, sentry duty sucks. I've done a lot of that. A smartphone helps if nobody ever checks up on you.

edited 10th Dec '11 8:13:22 AM by Barkey

One day, I'm not gonna be a guard anymore. I'm gonna be a ... Manor Lord! And I'm gonna hire lotsa guards, and put 'em on night patrol, then sneak up behind 'em and say, 'Did you hear that?' Watch 'em jump.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Good luck!

I'm baaaaaaack

Best of luck to you.

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.

Make it back in one piece, and remember to tell us when you're safe again, if such a time ever comes.

Doing my own service ATM, though lucky me is doing it in a slightly more peaceful place & took the non-military option he got.

Laws are made to be broken. You're next, thermodynamics.

^

With really cute women in uniform ta boot. Then gain the same can be said of the IDF, yowza.