There’s a thing called the No Pants Subway Ride which is a mass, widespread act of improvisational comedy for people who get their jollies from engaging with the hive mind i.e. Participants are supposed to ride the subway pantless and pretend that they aren’t and also not acknowledge other pantless passengers. Below is a picture of a soldier partaking in the silliness:
Courtesy John Moore/Getty Images
A picture being worth a thousand words – what does this one tell us about the modern American military? We shouldn’t stop at judging only this lone soldier for feeling the pressure to actually de-pants himself in the face of peer pressure on the subway – “everybody else is doing it, here I’ll go over the cliff too.” His behavior is a function of his institution. This is a display of a lack of respect for the employer – the U.S. Army or, to be more precise, the American people that are both employers and the people they’re supposed to be protecting. Or, if a soldier has the luxury of taking off his pants, he has rendered the uniform and the institution it represents worthless in a more fundamental way. Why the hell do we need this soldier and others like him running around sopping up tax dollars if they’re so useless as to be able to take off their pants because everyone else is doing it?
Above all, this scene conjures mockery. If you’re a soldier, act like one. Take pride in the fact that you don’t have to be silly in order to get respect and gain esteem.
Like this:
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Dunno, my impression has been that military men have been doing dumb shit off duty for so long it’s pretty much part of the job. It’d be better if he got stinking drunk and started a bar brawl, but I can’t get too worked up over this.
Stupid, arrogant and judgemental post. Wow! I am blown away at your pathetic musing. YOU should be mocked due to your lack of persepctive and reality.
IMO…Give the guy a break. Seriously, he could be someone who has never seen fighting OR he may have been witness to more unbelievable examples of horrible acts against humans and sh*t you will never – ever – experience in your entire life. So, if he joins in on a small and meaningless act of fun that, for one brief moment, may make him feel human again and part of our broader society, than why the f*ck not?
I realize that it is far more challenging to sit comfortable in your “pad” and type on your laptop blogging than be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or even that comfy country of Saudi Arabia. However, I think he deserves your support and praise…period.
The Chinese lady looks so unimpressed.
I can’t blame the soldier for wanting a piece of this action:
http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2013/01/13/d6/73/No_Pants_Subway_Ride_Atlanta_17.jpg
The military is now just the heavily armed attack apparatus of the jewish-liberal ruling class. So who cares if they are a joke? GOOD.
Well, he’s an E-3 so he’s new to the Army and he dosent have a combat patch so he’s never deployed.
My guess is immediate superior is going to have a field day with non-judicial punishment for this dude. Young soldiers make stupid decisions. That’s why they have NCOs over them for guidance, training, and supervision.
Which is certainly much preferable to the stupid, arrogant and non-judgmental post.
There used to be a certain sense of code within the military ranks. The idea that s special forces member would come out with a tell all book and the fact that active duty SEALS are acting in movies tells me that any notion of code has flown out the window. Guess the military isn’t immune to narcissism either. Army of One anyone?
I can see rgoltn has resorted to the old, “You’re not military, so you can’t judge me”.
Donny, it’s all a sign that we’re reaching critical-mass cynicism about American institutions. Unsurprisingly so, given liberalism’s march through them.
Would YOU respect any military that adopted feminism as its governing principle, whose top general thinks that the biggest tragedy of Fort Hood killings is not dead nineteen year old boys but the fact that Americans will question diversity, and which now does homosexual weddings in its chapels?
rgoltn..I was in the military, never saw any “action”, but the kind of shit this guy on the train did just wasn’t done before. Not only does it violate the UCMJ, but it’s generally disrespectful behavior (towards men and women), and you’re supposed to be upholding a higher standard when you are wearing the uniform. I know it’s not the 1930s but he’s sitting next to a woman for fuck’s sake…as Billy Batts said in Goodfellas: “Teach this kid a little fuckin’ manners!”
PA, make no mistake..I have no respect for the military anymore, for many of the reasons you highlighted. They are just corporate drones like the rest of our society.
He could be joining Oathkeepers and fighting the NDAA, but noooo, he’s doing this shit. Know why? Cuz he’s too chicken to do the first shit.
A prank like this might be amusing to women who already know you, or are willingly in your company, but to do it in a public subway car is stupid and rude.
Nothing a soldier does can disgrace the uniform more than it already is. Their constant surrendering to the feminists, gays and transexuals. Their impotence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their declining affirmative action standards. Their slavish devotion to Israel.
@rgoltn You’re an idiot. I’m a vet. Been to Iraq many more times no doubt than this puke has, and I hope someone identifies him so he can be punished. For a soldier to disrespect the uniform like he has out in public should be corrected in a way where it turns into an emotional event for him.
More on my fellow vets. . . . soldiers who fake PTSD or try to scam others into giving them excessive benefits (or pity) because they “served,” are asses who are no better than the other leeches in society who try and avoid blame for their own choices in life. As a veteran, these people disgust me because I get judged negatively for their idiocy (like a lot of good blacks get judged for the thugs of the same color). Unfortunately, @rgoltn, you seem like the opposite of the liberal, except instead of chicks or minorities or the poor you choose to excuse soldiers and try to look more moral and be self-righteous than everyone else.
The pantless white boy sure aint a soldier of Promoting Justice.
Ryu:
And not to mention the fact that a good portion of these soldiers have stated, in public surveys, that they would be perfectly willing to fire on American nationals on American soil, if ordered to do so. The LA Riots, Waco, and the Hurricane Katrina incidents show that they certainly would and certainly did.
Remember what Machiavelli said about mercenaries? Cultivating the mercenary spirit in our military have some bad consequences.
Did anybody happen to see the video Fidelbogen posted about the ‘Walk A Mile in Her Shoes’ event in Edminton, Canada? Canadian soldiers were there in high-heels.
Maybe we should invade Canada with pantless soldiers chasing Canadian soldiers around wearing women’s shoes. Then we could sell the videos to porn sites and pay off the national debt! LOL
a recruiter once told my brother, “Sheeit, the Army ain’t nothin but the paid Boy Scouts.”
somebody’s grumpy.
I love your blog but this was a pretty bad post. C’mon bro.
White males do seem to like showing off their legs and feet. The White boy love of shorts is legendary. Any time the temp goes above freezing you’ll see the White boy dude/bro/doofus crowd with their shorts on.
This post will upset a lot of them for that reason alone.
But the military boy here is pathetic. His actions are disrespectful and just UNMANLY. And anybody who doesn’t understand that has masculinity-deficiency issues.
Rifleman 01/16/2013 at 7:45 am
“White males do seem to like showing off their legs and feet. The White boy love of shorts is legendary. Any time the temp goes above freezing you’ll see the White boy dude/bro/doofus crowd with their shorts on.
This post will upset a lot of them for that reason alone.”
This cracker’s got nice legs and you’re gonna know it come spring time, mother fucker, when I’m out in my shorts selling my mayonnaise on white bread sandwiches from my peddle vending cart. You’ll know when I’m near as I’ll be blasting Kenny G to draw the other honkies. Just more SWPL!
GT66 01/16/2013 at 11:59 pm
This cracker’s got nice legs and you’re gonna know it come spring time…
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I seriously doubt you are going to wait until spring. You lack the emotional stamina to hold out that long.
did you ever think that maybe he’s not a real soldier…
that being said, what kind of man would be willing to kill or die for the oil corporations…
“I seriously doubt you are going to wait until spring. You lack the emotional stamina to hold out that long.”
It was a joke. Settle down Francis.
Several commentators have made inaccurate statements about the legal situation in which this Soldier could find himself.
Now it’s true he’s just a Private First Class, merely at the “E-3″ pay grade, so pretty junior. There is no patch on his right shoulder, so he has not deployed. What’s more strange is that, unless the pole is obscuring it perfectly, there doesn’t appear to be a present-unit patch on his left shoulder either, which is something you would only see for someone just out of basic training. There’s very little Active Duty personnel in and around NYC, so I’d guess he’s New York National Guard.
At any rate, by appearing in public with his pants removed, he is in violation of Army Regulation 670-1, however, that regulation is not punitive. Regulations, the violation for which you can be punished, must announce that such violations can be punished, and AR 670-1 does not. It has been suggested that it become so in an upcoming update, but that is not yet policy. Commanders are authorized to set a local, more restrictive, uniform policy, and to make the regulation punitive, and some, like the commander of Fort Hood, Texas, LTG Campbell, have done so – but it is still not the norm.
When a Soldier pulls down his pants, a superior can order him to put them back on and to always keep them on in the future. If he Soldier refuses or otherwise disobeys the order, then he can be charged with a violation of Article 92.
Short of that, he could be charged under one of the two “general wrongfulness” catchall provision of Article 134, in this case, “conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.” which usually means conduct which has a tendency to bring the service into disrepute or which tends to lower it in public esteem.
A nice Company Grade Article-15 (a fine, some extra duty, and restriction) should set this Private straight and send a clear message to his comrades about acting like an ass while in uniform, or, um, halfway out of it.