Thought for the day...

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
At what point was a Wog no longer a Wog? I mean, how long did it take for one to be no longer considered a rookie?
It wasn't a matter of time or seniority of rank, it was the place. It only takes one day but that must be a special day as the ship crosses the equator for you to raise the Jolly Roger while King Neptune is aboard for the trial of pollywog crimes.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
It wasn't a matter of time or seniority of rank, it was the place. It only takes one day but that must be a special day as the ship crosses the equator for you to raise the Jolly Roger while King Neptune is aboard for the trial of pollywog crimes.
So a man can serve years in the Navy, and stays a tadpole until he crosses the equator?
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
So a man can serve years in the Navy, and stays a tadpole until he crosses the equator?
Yes, we had several Wog officers like the guy in the sword picture being treated as a wog-dog by an enlisted seaman. They received no special treatment during the trial. In fact the list of transgressions were longer on the senior guys. The list for a ships Pollywog ship's Captain was a special case because he was first to be punished by the Shellback crew.
 
Last edited:

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
Talk about sensationalism:

Trenton Lewis' legs ached from the 11-mile walk he made every morning to get to his 4 a.m. shift. And yet the 21-year-old dutifully did it for seven long months.
According to the video, his workplace is 5.5 miles away. He must have taken the scenic route.

5.5 miles is about what I run, nearly daily -- and my pace is a moderate (for my age) 10 min/mile. If his 21 year old legs ache from a 5 mile walk, I fear for how he will feel at my age.

Good thing they bought him a car before his legs fell off... :rolleyes:

Edit: Crawling 100 yards hours after suffering fatal stab wounds, now that's grit! (Same paper.)
 
Last edited:

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
According to the video, his workplace is 5.5 miles away. He must have taken the scenic route.
:rolleyes: ... that's on his way to work ... there's another 5.5 m he had to walk home when his shift ended... totaling 11 m ... stupid mistake by the news producers

My knees hurt a little after a 5 mile walk, btw... one of the genetic traits I inherited from my mother ... I'm only 53, and I think that at this pace I'll be needing surgery before I turn 70...
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
When I first moved to the Springs I walked five miles each way to work for several months. I was focusing on getting out of debt and so I didn't drive unless I absolutely had to.

Today it would be a lot more of a challenge -- that 5.5 m walk might be too much these days! :D

Actually, there was a time not too long ago when an 11 m walk, particularly if it involved even a single flight of stairs, had me panting trying to catch my breath.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
When I first moved to the Springs I walked five miles each way to work for several months. I was focusing on getting out of debt and so I didn't drive unless I absolutely had to.

Today it would be a lot more of a challenge -- that 5.5 m walk might be too much these days! :D

Actually, there was a time not too long ago when an 11 m walk, particularly if it involved even a single flight of stairs, had me panting trying to catch my breath.
:rolleyes: ... alright, alright ... I get it ... m is for meters, and it should only be used that way ... and mi is for miles ... geeeezzz... :D:p

There... I've now got my units clear...
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
I don't know the full story behind the story. How did this guy from Tonga qualify to compete in this event? If he qualified under the same rules as everyone else, then I'm 100% behind him. That's true even if it's a case of his country just having to meet certain filing requirements in order to send an Olympian in that sport. If this guy is the best qualified person that Tonga could get to compete, then he has the right to represent his nation as best he can. And I think he has the right attitude -- he is there to compete and finish and set a bar for future people from his part of the world.

I remember, very vaguely because I was so young, the marathon runner from Tanzania that had problems early on in the 1968 Olympics. I don't recall those Olympics, since I was only three, but in the 1972 Olympics they talked about it a lot and that's where I was exposed to it. He struggled to complete the event long after everyone else that finished had done so. When asked why he didn't just quit, he said that his country hadn't sent him 5000 miles to start the race, but had sent him 5000 miles to finish it. During the 1996 Olympics they did a more in depth story on it and that's when I learned that the Olympic officials actually kept the venue open specifically to allow him to finish and the story had spread that this was going on and so a lot of people, including the television crew, came back to cheer him on at the end. Now THAT'S the Olympic spirit on full display.
 
Top