This thread reminded me of a story from a couple of years ago, as told to me by one of my friends in the military.
At the time he was teaching in a building where there was a strict rule banning things like cell phones, cameras, thumb drives, laptops. (you couldn't even *bring* them into the building, let alone use them there). They had giant signs at the entrances (including pictures with giant "NO" symbols), and I think you had to sign a statement that you understand and acknowledge the rule.
So one day he's walking up the stairwell and sees an officer yapping away on his cell phone. He politely tells the man that he'll have to terminate the call and turn the phone in at the main desk.
The response? The man said nothing, just reached up to his own collar and wiggled his rank pins, basically saying, "I outrank you, shut up and go away." Extremely rude.
So... the instructor reported him to the chain of command. And before that phone call was even finished, one of the Master Chiefs (E8) was giving the officer an extremely loud dressing down. Basically along the lines of "How dare you disrespect one of my instructors! How dare you violate our rules!"
This time the officer did not try pulling rank. Sure he outranked the master chief, but... it's not a good idea to piss on someone who can have you kicked out of the school and call the MPs. Looks very bad on the records, ya know.
Oh and yeah, obviously by then the call was over. Kinda hard to yap on the phone when you're being (rightly) screamed at.
At the time he was teaching in a building where there was a strict rule banning things like cell phones, cameras, thumb drives, laptops. (you couldn't even *bring* them into the building, let alone use them there). They had giant signs at the entrances (including pictures with giant "NO" symbols), and I think you had to sign a statement that you understand and acknowledge the rule.
So one day he's walking up the stairwell and sees an officer yapping away on his cell phone. He politely tells the man that he'll have to terminate the call and turn the phone in at the main desk.
The response? The man said nothing, just reached up to his own collar and wiggled his rank pins, basically saying, "I outrank you, shut up and go away." Extremely rude.
So... the instructor reported him to the chain of command. And before that phone call was even finished, one of the Master Chiefs (E8) was giving the officer an extremely loud dressing down. Basically along the lines of "How dare you disrespect one of my instructors! How dare you violate our rules!"
This time the officer did not try pulling rank. Sure he outranked the master chief, but... it's not a good idea to piss on someone who can have you kicked out of the school and call the MPs. Looks very bad on the records, ya know.
Oh and yeah, obviously by then the call was over. Kinda hard to yap on the phone when you're being (rightly) screamed at.
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