Two dimensional parents

[billvon 3,108]

A lot of military families have been stressed by long separations caused by repeated deployments, callbacks of the IRR, tour extensions and the line - and it looks like it's not going to get better anytime soon.

The National Guard has finally come up with a solution of sorts for their problems. Is it more rotations home? Shorter tours? Teleconferencing equipment made available to families and troops? Nope - it's cardboard cutouts of their father/mother/wife/husband.

I'm not making this up. The national guard is sending cardboard cutouts of family members deployed overseas to their families. It's a strange, strange world we live in.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/08/30/guard_families_cope_in_two_dimensions/

(Note that the article does not address whether the cardboard family member gets hazardous-duty pay in households with cats, or if they qualify as a rider for carpool lanes.)

[Gravitymaster 0]

Why does this surprise you coming from a very Liberal State like Maine?

[quade 4]

Um . . . if a person is truly "liberal" they probably aren't in any part of the military to begin with.

Besides, why assign a political label to this at all? Can't it just be a stupid f'in' idea all on it's own?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[micro 0]

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Um . . . if a person is truly "liberal" they probably aren't in any part of the military to begin with.

Besides, why assign a political label to this at all? Can't it just be a stupid f'in' idea all on it's own?

Here here!

How fucking lame.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[GTAVercetti 0]

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Um . . . if a person is truly "liberal" they probably aren't in any part of the military to begin with.

Besides, why assign a political label to this at all? Can't it just be a stupid f'in' idea all on it's own?

No quade. Every problem has to be political. Have you learned NOTHING from SC?



In anycase, the article says the families REQUESTED them. Who am I to say how someone is supposed to deal with having a loved one away? Weird, but hey so is alot of stuff I do.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[SpeedRacer 1]

I need to get one of those that looks like me for work. Then I could sneak off to my car & take a nap.

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[Shotgun 1]

I'll probably be the only one to say this, but I don't think it's such a bad idea.

From the article:

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``You know, this is my motto: `Deployment isn't a big thing, it's a million little things.' These families go through a lot."

This might be helping them to deal with at least one of those "million little things."

[Gawain 0]

Pretty weird, but if it helps...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Um . . . if a person is truly "liberal" they probably aren't in any part of the military to begin with.

So your saying Liberals refuse to join the Military and fight for their country? I'd have to disagree with you and I'm sure many Liberals would too.

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Besides, why assign a political label to this at all? Can't it just be a stupid f'in' idea all on it's own?

Yep, it's stupid but considering how Maine is a liberal State, not surprising it's leaders think this is a good idea. Heck, why not just give them Cabbage Patch dolls or something as asinine?

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Um . . . if a person is truly "liberal" they probably aren't in any part of the military to begin with.

Besides, why assign a political label to this at all? Can't it just be a stupid f'in' idea all on it's own?

Here here!

How fucking lame.

Yeah, about as Lame as the article which was written to take a swipe at the National Guard.

[TypicalFish 0]

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Yep, it's stupid but considering how Maine is a liberal State, not surprising it's leaders think this is a good idea. Heck, why not just give them Cabbage Patch dolls or something as asinine?

Are you saying liberals=asinine? I am confused...

"I gargle no man's balls..." ussfpa on SOCNET

[GTAVercetti 0]

Did you even bother reading the damn article or are you just spitting because it is Maine?

A Sergeant First Class started the program and families have REQUESTED to have the cutouts done. Furthermore, it is not necessarily a MAINE idea:

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Claudel said she heard about the Flat Daddy idea while attending a national conference for the Guard.

No one is forcing it upon them and it is helping some of them. Just because it doesn't work for you is not a good reason to discount it for others. Personally, i think it is dumb, but I am not coping with it, so who cares?

What, do you not support the families of troops or something? See how dumb that type of statement sounds?

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Yep, it's stupid but considering how Maine is a liberal State, not surprising it's leaders think this is a good idea. Heck, why not just give them Cabbage Patch dolls or something as asinine?

Are you saying liberals=asinine? I am confused...

Nope. I'm talking about giving them the cut-outs as an asinine idea. But now that you mention it....

[Gravitymaster 0]

I'm talking about who approved it. Would you support letting the troops wear baby diapers and suck their thumbs on duty if it made them feel better?

[GTAVercetti 0]

Troops on the battlefield and families at home are QUITE different things.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[GTAVercetti 0]

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Yeah, about as Lame as the article which was written to take a swipe at the National Guard.

This tells me you either did not read or did not bother to understand it. That article was nothing but lighthearted and positive about the situation.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[christelsabine 1]

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The National Guard has finally come up with a solution of sorts for their problems. Is it more rotations home? Shorter tours? Teleconferencing equipment made available to families and troops? Nope - it's cardboard cutouts of their father/mother/wife/husband.

I'm not making this up. The national guard is sending cardboard cutouts of family members deployed overseas to their families. It's a strange, strange world we live in.

This is a strange thing. It's more than that. Sounds like a very desperate last try to give those families something to hold on - heaven, how stupid is this idea!

Does this cardboard comrade sit on his own chair at the breakfast or dinner table, smiling at his kids?

Allow families to chat, phone, whatever_there_is on a regular basis with their loved ones far away - that's much more real to them than such a pc of paperboard.

OTOH, family/kids need to live w/o dad/husband/etc. They should not be cheated with such a primitive BS.

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[Gawain 0]

In reading the messages as the thread evolves, I'm not quite sure what people are arguing over. The stresses a deployment (and the time leading up to a deployment) puts on a family are nearly incomprehensible unless it's been experienced firsthand.

The armed services look at all sorts of ideas to support the families during a deployment, as the families often have it harder in some cases than the troops themselves.

If a family requested and supported program requests cut outs of family members as a means of providing support during a deployment, then why would there be a political, sociological or other type of criticism of it?

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[GTAVercetti 0]

Exactly. As I said, I think it is dumb, but then I am not in their position. Everyone deals with stuff in their own way. If it helps thems, who cares?

I remember when I used to work in a high stress restaurant. Ocassionally, I would go into the freezer and punch boxes of frozen peas and carrots when I got overworked. Is that rationale? Not really. Does everyone need to do the same thing? Nope. Did it work for me? I am pleased to say I left that job without harming a single individual. The peas and carrots are another story.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[Michele 1]

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If a family requested and supported program requests cut outs of family members as a means of providing support during a deployment, then why would there be a political, sociological or other type of criticism of it?

(Not directed at Max...just using his quote)

They ran a story on "flat daddies and mommies" today on one of the early shows on MSNBC. They had a mother and a 6 year old girl talking about the flat daddy the little one has.

From her perspective, it's a good thing. She knows it's not the same thing as Daddy, but it brings her a sense of family and comfort, of continuation and of love. How the hell can that be anything other than good?? A 6 year old still sleeps with a teddy bear. This is nothing more than a teddy bear that's full size and looks like Daddy or Mommy. No reason on this planet that a child should be deprived of something which brings them comfort at an age like that. Separation is tough, and deployment is harder than just separation. Let the kids do what they need to do to continue to feel as good as they can while in the uncertain world of military deployment.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[christelsabine 1]

For the moment, you seem to be right. A 6 y/o cuddles teddy bear and will kiss the "flat daddy" good night.

And then: 2 months later - daddy's been on wrong place at wrong time. Boom. No real daddy anymore. But there still is the flat one.

Will the flat one take over his role? It's heart braking just to imagine the little one's kissing "flat" daddy every night and one day, the real one never will come back. Who will tell this to little darling? Or is she supposed to adopt the "flat" one now? Sounds harsh, I know.

In my ears, it much more sounds insensitive and like a very bad joke to present those families a pc of paper.

From personal experience I know how precious the pic of a lost one can be but, I never would accept a pc of cardboard with the pic of my man sitting on the breakfast table. Horror vision and a giant lie to the kids.

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[billvon 3,108]

>No reason on this planet that a child should be deprived
>of something which brings them comfort at an age like that.

Agreed. But I think depriving them of a parent is many, many orders of magnitude worse. Sending them a cardboard cutout of one is like the Navy sending a family who has lost a loved one a coupon for a free Big Mac.

[GTAVercetti 0]

You are arguing against this with something that is not going to change: the family stationed overseas is doing a tour of duty. They are not coming back right now and the families know that. This is ONE way the families are coping. They requested it. No one has said this is some solution to the larger issue (bringing the troops home), but you are making it into that.

To use your analogy, if the family said to the Navy, "hey, I know you cannot bring my family member back right now, but that Big Mac sure would help me feel better." would the proper response be "No?"

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[quade 4]

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Um . . . if a person is truly "liberal" they probably aren't in any part of the military to begin with.

So your saying Liberals refuse to join the Military and fight for their country? I'd have to disagree with you and I'm sure many Liberals would too.

Perhaps I was being a bit too glib.

Here is what I meant in a few more words;

People traditionionlly labeled as Liberal have fought and died for this country many times over. Some have won the Medal of Honor and some have become Presidents. Some of our founding fathers were most definately classic Liberals.

However, the term "liberal" as used in today's modern society has been usurped by the ultra-right-wing-conservatives to mean "filthy-Maxist-commie-tree-hugging-nut-job-terrorist-loving-sheep-fucker" and those people rarely, if ever, want to have anything to do with joining the U.S. military.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[billvon 3,108]

>if the family said to the Navy, "hey, I know you cannot bring my
> family member back right now, but that Big Mac sure would help me
> feel better." would the proper response be "No?"

I think the best possible responses would be (in order)


(best)
-getting the family member back ASAP
-paying the serviceman enough so their families can get their Big Macs if they want them; let them decide
-having a special budget allocated to McDonald's comfort food for families
(worst)