Karens exist in all industries, so it makes sense that they might not pop up in an army reserve unit. These male Karens insisted that the folks who managed processing logistics requests were taking too long with a specific order they made. They even tried to embarrass the reserve unit team at a big meeting with several higher-ranked individuals present. Well, that plan backfired as one of the members of this team, who shared this Reddit thread , looked up their processing request during the mee…

There's something about stories of time in the military that just really tick all boxes. For one thing, you have archetypical authoritarian figures aplenty who have a very real and absolute authority over their subordinates, the kind of power that a overstepping assistant retail manager or wizened doctor's office receptionist would salivate buckets over. The thing is, in this type of environment, you're going to be ordered to do things that you don't agree with or that just plain old don't make…

It is crucial that you communicate your expectations to everyone around you. Having said that, as someone who always says what they mean and means what they say, in the event that you were given an order by superiors, would you simply follow it without question or would you make an effort to comprehend the reasoning behind it to prevent future annoyances? The story below tells the tale of a clever transport officer who, although fully aware that he is setting himself up for failure, opts to fol…

Strict adherence to policy is a double-edged sword; if you demand unquestioning obedience to the rules when it benefits you, then you need to hold that same zealous ideal when things aren't stacked to go your way. Unfortunately, we humans seem to really struggle with this and love nothing more than changing rules, or our interpretation of them, to suit us best—sometimes without realizing we're doing so. After all, we're all the heroes of our own stories, and we have the uncanny ability to hold…

I have had the privilege of getting to know soldiers over the years, and when I say that their bond is unbreakable, I mean that they will stop at nothing to ensure that the people they love are taken care of. Whether they like it or not, they are now a family, and families stick together through good times and bad. There are many stories, like the one below, about troops sticking together. However, the story below is of an active-duty trooper who was denied entry into a local bar shortly after…

If Santa and his naughty list were real… He'd have a blast revoking these bosses' privileges. I can just imagine his hoarse chuckle as he strokes his fluffy white beard, waving gifts in their faces that they are never going to get. But he doesn't exist, and there's no need, because the bosses in question managed to dig their own grave all by themselves. One person was serving in the military for five years, and during this time, he was responsible for the inventory. After a while, he realized t…

Serving in the military often gains you a lot of respect in the form of ogling eyes, desperately whispered ‘Thank you's, and the occasional ‘No man is a man until he has been a soldier’ speech, usually given by people who never served a day in their life. Many of the soldier's spouses take a lot of pride in the fact their partner is in the military, and I get it, I do, but I don't get when they take pride in themselves , as if they did the country a favor by marrying a person in the army. It's…

Here's a red flag in any workplace : if they love to say, “that's how we've always done things.” It immediately signals to you as an employee that your contributions won't be valued. Instead, the company is going to keep doing things the way they've always been done, like using outdated tech or working harder, not smarter. Places like this don't want innovation, they want you to shut your brain off all day and do things by the books. While in nursing school , u/krichcomix found out that some ol…

There are surprisingly few stories we see shared online in this manner that have any real substance about them. Sure, they make for good stories and engagement for discussion, but one can never be completely sure that there's anything more to them than that. Well, that was until this story surfaced, a legendary tale of legendary status that spread like wildfire around certain corners of the internet and in military circles, owing to the fact that there was a lot of evidence pointing to the fact…

You can't command respect that you haven't earned, and just the mere fact that you're someone's superior doesn't mean you've earned anything. After all, there are plenty of people in positions of authority who have achieved that position for all the wrong reasons—usually because another person with a misunderstanding of leadership has granted it to them. You'll come across plenty of these authority figures in your life who wield their authority with impunity, demanding respect when they don't d…

People love having someone to blame, especially in a situation where something has gone wrong, and they're worried about the finger being pointed at themselves. Rather than taking that risk, they're more than happy to scapegoat someone directly beneath them who is going to find it challenging to stand up for themselves against them. As the saying goes… “Sludge” only flows in one direction—and that's downhill.

It's no secret that petty power begets petty tyrants, but there's something about a petty tyrant who is very aware that they're not quite at the top of the food chain that causes exceedingly terrible behavior. For example, it's often that store managers are the chillest people in existence, being at the top of the immediate food chain with nowhere really else to go; they tend to take things as they come and are easygoing to subordinates. Meanwhile, assistant managers have a much higher chance o…

Gyms aggressively seek to enlist as many members as possible, seemingly with the hope that none of them will actually use the facilities provided. Instead, keeping members paying monthly to keep the gym's barcoded tag on their key ring like some expensive subscription-based accessory. They just as aggressively prevent you from ever canceling your membership, ensuring that the entire engagement unravels with the same clarity and certainty as riddling with a sphinx. It's not unheard of for gyms t…

There's always a bigger fish when it comes to the chain of command—well, almost always. But trust a Petty Officer to think that they're a much bigger fish than they really are and foolishly overstep in the wielding of their authority. This newly enlisted seaman ran afoul of a “Karen” clerk, who also happened to be well… connected with senior enlisted personnel. He starts off by explaining how this happened during his time serving in the Navy way back in the late eighties. The then-newly enliste…

If you're going to approach leadership with the attitude that everyone should obey everything you ask without question—you should probably think twice about every command that you order. Because when your subordinates follow every command without question or thought, you might end up with some results that you didn't anticipate. It's no secret that this attitude is often prevalent in the military… and for good reason too. After all, the last thing you want is to have a soldier decide to go off…

There's no stronger way to learn something than through experience gained through repeated attempts and failure… and there's no better way to get this experience than through learning basic skills when you're a kid who is time rich and made of dang near literal rubber. So, you might think that growing up in a certain geographic area and spending lots of time outdoors would make you more qualified to make judgments about that geographical area than some random military officer. After all, there'…