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To answer why my last post may have seemed caustic, allow me to explain.
Throughout the course of this thread, I have read comments by "Southerners" who claim that "Northerners" can't possibly understand what it's like to be raised properly and how it is our wish to shit all over the South with our un-cultured ways - or words to that effect.
I've read comments about how, if there is any chivalry left, it must exist in the military, particularly in the Marine Corps.
My experience has shown me that believing such absolutes is foolish and naive. The rudest, most inconsiderate people I ever came across were in the South. Does this mean that I think all Southerners are this way? No, nor would I ever make the argument that Southerners are rude and inconsiderate, but some are. Just like everywhere else.
I also spent 5 years in the military. You might be surprised to know that a lot of people in the military are just as rude and inconsiderate as others in the general population. You should hear the way some men in the military talk about - and to - women. To me, the notion that the Marines are chivalrous is reminiscent of the recruiting ad that shows a Marine in a Knight's costume or Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman". It's marketing. It's not real life.
My comments about romanticizing groups of people is something I take issue with because it doesn't recognize that people are individuals and one will never be able to peg a group of people as having qualities that no one else possesses, especially when it comes to the issue of courtesy.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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