OBE versus the FAA’s Employee Vaccine Mandate

by | Dec 3, 2021 | Federal Power | 291 comments

 

I was 22 when I raised my right hand and spoke an oath to my country. I said it with conviction and with great pride that I was doing something that was much bigger than I could ever imagine. I was swept up in patriotic fervor and a national irrational fear. It was 2003 and we were already deep into Afghanistan and the drumbeats of Operation Iraqi Freedom were drawing closer and closer. I signed up for the Air Force, going into the Delayed Entry Program in early March of that year. I figured if Bush is saying this is as terrible as it all sounds, I better get in to a job and service I want and not get swallowed up in a draft. That really was a fear of mine. I wasn’t sure how big of a mess we would get into.

At the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS), I was the oldest of our group so I was appointed the leader and responsible for these kids; hell, I wasn’t that far removed from them. Sure, I had a wife, a step-daughter and a baby on the way, but I was just as freaked out as the 17- and 18-year-old fellow recruits I was now leading. I failed my first assignment. I was handed all the recruits’ packets and told not to give to anyone. As the officer walked away, another came by and asked if I was in charge. “Yes, sir!” I replied. He immediately told me he needed to “inspect” the paperwork. I complied and was rewarded with 50 pushups. I was not even in Basic yet!

I served my time, with honor and vigor. While I went into the Air Force with some college and left my Technical School as an E-3, it was only one and a half years in at my first (and only) base stateside that I was eligible to test for an NCO promotion. I decimated the test. I was considered to be a ‘fast-burner’ and because I had no deployments or time-in-service. I had to score high on the test to be considered for promotion to E-5. I did it. It took a year for my line-number to be called to sew on my SSGT stripes and when I did, I was proud.

 

 

As luck has it, life turned for the worse. My wife cheated on me with my best friend, left for California with the kids and I struggled. I was deep in debt and worked hard to find a way out of the military, not because I didn’t like it but because the mere fact of being in I was going into about $1500 in debt a month because of child support. It was 2008 and we gained a new commander and some rules changed on how hardships were being processed. I finally was able to get out and at least slow the bleeding of my financial situation.

December, 2008, was absolutely terrible timing in terms of leaving the military. Jobs were nowhere to be found, even with a strong background in electronics, some leadership skills, and a work ethic. I struggled and used some GI Bill benefits to take nonsense classes at ITT Technical Institute. The benefits paid the bills, but ultimately were worthless. I had applications out to a 400 mile radius from my parents house in California, in which I figured was good enough to remain close to my boys. The FAA finally processed my application that I sent them at the beginning of 2009.

I was happy as can be. Out of work for a year and getting right back into what I did in the military. Did I mention that I fell love with my job? Working on radar, RF, electronics, troubleshooting, thinking outside the box, never knowing what the day would bring was an absolute dream. That is exactly what I would be doing the FAA.

Once here in Las Vegas, I applied my skills and talent I the same fashion as I did in the military. I quickly was promoted and then achieved a coveted spot as the System Performance Specialist. I was the lead-tech, the one who controlled the projects and oversaw the installation designs of a multi-million dollar Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) being planned and built. I brought in new and unique services that no other FAA site has and dealt with our stakeholders on a daily basis. I was the face of the FAA in Vegas on the technical side.

After time, I felt it was time to grow some more. I sought out leadership and management roles. I did Union business, I went to DC for leadership training, which was quite good, don’t laugh. I actively sought out mentors, inspired seasoned managers and took every opportunity I could. This took me away from my family for long stretches of time to better our situation so we could finally stop the paycheck to paycheck living and begin to enjoy the ride of life with some financial security.

 

 

The moment came when my longtime boss of 10 years announced her retirement. It was my opportunity to become the radar and automation manager. A spot I coveted and it was my bread and butter. I get to inspire my employees and share the love of the job to them, so they in turn become as enthusiastic as I am. Just as she is retired, March 2020 hits and the world goes insane. She stayed a bit, because she was able to squeeze out another year working from home. Smart gal she is.

After she retired, they put out a bid for the position for two 6-month details. A peer of mine took the first 6-months and then I was to take the second. As soon as I stepped into the role in August of 2021, they interviewed for a two-year stretch and I was selected for it. Then the mandates hit. At first, not bad. You can be vaccinated or not, just some different rules if the later. Yeah, I fell for that. All that changed when they made it all or nothing.

I began drafting this, to give to my boss and district manager. I also have a select few district managers that will get it also.

 

FAA Management, to include the COO of Air Traffic, Vice President of Tech Ops

I have given nearly 20 years of my life to this country. I have sacrificed my well-being, the threat of war looming over me while serving in the military. I have sacrificed years of my children’s lives to serve this nation. I have given up birthdays, first-steps, first-words, accomplishments, achievements and many other memories. I gave those up in the military and in Federal service willingly.

Then, as all this craziness has emerged, your answer is to rid of me? Someone who has the drive to be the best? To do what they can to learn and grow? You can take this job then if that is how you will treat me. I cannot believe I have given so much to be cast aside. I cannot fathom how many terrible employees you will continue to coddle and not be able to remove from Federal Service just because they have not done the great sin of refusing this edict. I know I am not the only one.

Sure, you will lose people that you have been dying to get rid of for decades and now you have your easy out, no long drawn out processes to go through. You will also be losing people passionate about their job. Passionate about safety of air travel. Passionate about providing a service to our fellow citizens.

You are doing nothing more than “following orders”. I was taught, that we don’t follow orders that are unconstitutional or orders that don’t sit well because they are just not right. I know that refusing has consequences and I am ready to face them. You have been salivating at the notion you get to cleanse the ranks of not bad employees, but employees that feel their personal convictions do not allow such heavy handed authoritarianism.

I will never step foot on a plane or seek the services of the FAA or Air Traffic again in my life because I have the knowledge that you have let good people go. People who just want to do their jobs and who know what the mission is. You all have lost that mission.

I am at peace with this. I will not be part of an organization who is doing this. You have taken an employee who pushed your mission, pushed your values, pushed your goals and turned them completely around.

Ungrateful,

[redacted]

 

In the end, I know it is my choice. I know what I may be giving up. Like I said, I am at peace. I have a wonderful wife who supports me, family that already treated each other like lepers, and teenagers that have a good understanding of the personal choice in the matter. They get to see someone stand up for what they believe in, even if they themselves don’t believe it. It is by far the hardest decision I have ever had to make.

About The Author

Ownbestenemy

Ownbestenemy

291 Comments

  1. R C Dean

    Mad respect.

    This is what principled looks like, and it is a bar I failed to reach when the decision was forced on me.

    • ron73440

      This is what principled looks like, and it is a bar I failed to reach when the decision was forced on me.

      I am right there with you.

      For me, it was early, there were no real threats of mandates, and my company was willing to transfer me to another position if I didn’t take it.

      My thinking was: In 20 years in the Corps, how many shots have I gotten? What’s one more?

      Now one more is no way in hell.

    • Mojeaux

      it is a bar I failed to reach when the decision was forced on me

      Same in Chez Mojeaux.

      • The Other Kevin

        Same. It makes me absolutely sick that we’re all being forced to choose between the things that are really important to us and getting an experimental shot.

      • Sean

        Multiple, experimental shots. Forever.

      • Tundra

        What until the ‘climate crisis’ really hits.

        You’ll pine for something as benign as endless shots.

      • Tundra

        Or wait, even.

        *coffee*

      • Not Adahn

        Coffee is bad for the environment and therefore illegal.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I mentioned down below, I had appointments lined up multiple times. Like nearly everyone here, I will never shame someone for going the route they feel is best for themselves or their family. We do what we need to in the best possible way we know how.

    • Rat on a train

      I admit I caved after they threatened work. Unfortunately my qualifications pretty much lock me into contracting at this point. I have at least held off reporting my status until required (currently in January). Corporate keeps sending emails reminding us to submit our proof before the deadline. Respect for those that were able to hold out under the pressure.

    • Ownbestenemy

      This decision had many nights in somber discussions with my wife. There were many times where I had appointments set up leading up to our deadline. In the end, as more and more news on just how terribly ineffective the shots were, I just couldn’t bring myself to actively seek out something that could potentially harm me. I don’t go actively to large gatherings seeking out the sick or those who are coughing all over the place, so why would I roll the dice with the shot.

    • DEG

      it is a bar I failed to reach when the decision was forced on me.

      This is something that has bothered me a bit.

      I dealt with this problem by jumping ship, which has been striking me as the easy way out.

      I’m not going to get the vaccine.

      Folks have offered me fake vaccine cards. I’ve turned them down. I won’t give my business to places that require it. So no Swing dances in the Boston area. I go to PA instead. But that’s a minor inconvenience, especially since I have friends and family in PA and the Swing dances in PA attract a much better crowd. I’m willing to bet if I asked the PA swing dance organizers if they had people trying to sneak in without paying, they’d say no. Back in the Before Times, when I’d work the door at a Boston area swing dance, I’d catch people trying to sneak in without paying, and I think one person got past me.

      I’m rambling, back to the point. It has bugged me that I used to tell people to “hold the line” with respect to vaccine mandates. And there here I am ducking and dodging the blows while others are in much worse positions than I am. So I don’t tell people “hold the line” anymore.

      • Nephilium

        With the company I’m currently working for. If they don’t grant me the exemption, I’ll make them go through the disciplinary process and fire me. I had a conversation with my boss, who said that I had gotten a different form then the other people she’s seen request an exemption. She also said that most were getting approved. HR closed my original request while I was on PTO, so I’ve had to open another one, which has had no movement on it.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Oh get that in writing. That is straight-up discrimination based on religion.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Yup. Everything in writing. If they insist on a call, insist on recording it. Nothing gets said off the record, nothing turns into he said, she said.

      • Nephilium

        She asked me to send over a copy of the newest form they send me, and I’ll be gently trying to get her to respond if it’s different or the same as the others.

      • DEG

        What others are saying – get it in writing!

        Hopefully you get your exemption.

      • Mojeaux

        So I don’t tell people “hold the line” anymore.

        If one is paying attention to social media (which I do a little bit), it’s easy to think I’m alone in the world as far as how I feel about the vaccine. My SIL just the other day jumped on my husband for saying “Walgreens shouldn’t vax minors without a parent’s permission” and was terribly condescending. The problem is that we owe a debt of gratitude to said SIL, so we don’t argue, but her disgust for us, for “anti-vaxxers”, and for “red states” was on full display.

        It’s disheartening.

      • invisible finger

        Whatever chits SIL has on you, she has exhausted them.

        To borrow from an SCTV bit, saving your life doesn’t give her the right to stab you in the back later.

      • DEG

        Whatever chits SIL has on you, she has exhausted them.

        I agree.

      • R C Dean

        Concur.

      • Ed Wuncler

        One of the most disheartening things these past couple of years especially with the Presidency of Trump and COVID is how absolutely hateful and callous a lot of my friends and acquaintances are towards people who deviates from their worldview.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I get it big time in my work circles. They assume they’re among fellow believers and they talk unguardedly. I’m under no delusion that they’ll do anything but spit on my shoes if I’m forced out.

        It’s to the point that I sometimes wonder if I’ve backed myself into a series of conspiratorial echo chambers, because I can’t find anybody besides people who are outspoken conservatives or libertarians who give half a shit about this issue. An occasional grumble from the normies, but nothing remotely like what I see here or in my other liberty affirming circles

      • Gadfly

        An occasional grumble from the normies, but nothing remotely like what I see here or in my other liberty affirming circles

        The normies rarely matter, it’s usually the weirdos on all sides that move culture/history, as they’re the ones who actually care and so actually fight about it.

        When the normies actually care, that’s when you worry, as that means it’s almost SHTF time.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        The problem is that we owe a debt of gratitude to said SIL, so we don’t argue, but her disgust for us, for “anti-vaxxers”, and for “red states” was on full display.

        Gratitude and fealty are two very different things. I’ve struggled (and continue to struggle) with that in certain parts of life.

    • Ed Wuncler

      Aye.

      I struggle with this a lot. I don’t believe that the government should be giving out mandates like candy on Halloween and it’s my duty to tell my job and the government to fuck themselves. But then I have a wife and two kids to support and I know that we would be in trouble financially if I did that. I have mad respect for you Ownbestenemy for having the courage to stand up for your beliefs and face the consequences of doing so.

      • invisible finger

        Your biggest problem is the usurious Illinois property taxes. GTFO of IL and you’ll be fine.

      • Ed Wuncler

        Fumy you say that because in our village newsletter, the Mayor basically said that she might have to consider raising taxes because the pension obligations have been a huge drain on the town’s revenues and Springfield won’t do a damn thing to alleviate the issue.

        My father in law has early onset Lewy Body Dementia and so we’ve discussed with my mother in law that we are more than willing to move to Ohio if she needs any help.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’m really sorry about your FIL, that’s rough.

      • DEG

        Sorry about your father in law.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Sorry to hear about your FIL.

      • ron73440

        Sorry to hear that.

        Good on you for being there for them.

      • Ed Wuncler

        It’s sad because my father in law was a brilliant corporate attorney who taught law at Case Western Reserve. He wrote academic papers that was used in Supreme Court arguments and even had an US Rep plagiarize his work. And he wrote some books. To see him slowly deteriorate is not easy and it hasn’t been easy on my wife who still see her Dad as this smart but affable guy who was always ready to drop some new knowledge.

  2. ron73440

    Good writeup.

    Hard choices are coming for a lot of people, myself included.

  3. Tundra

    Thanks for sharing your story, OBE.

    You are a good man and I wish you well.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks Tundra. This piece was part of my coming to terms with my decision. I needed more than just myself and my wife know and since you all are probably the most awesome people on the planet, I felt here was where the world gets to know

  4. Dr. Fronkensteen

    You’re a better man than I. Yes I haven’t taken the jab but my company offered either the vaccine or the once a week nose jab. I’ve taken the weekly testing which doesn’t feel like much of an imposition for me.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Everybody knows how gung ho I’m am on this, and I’d take a weekly nose swab in a heartbeat. It’s an inconvenience, not medical experimentation.

      Granted, I’d be openly shopping for a company that doesn’t abuse its employees like that, but (IMO) you’d only hurt yourself if you were to hastily quit over a mere inconvenience. Better to make a planned and structured exit in those circumstances (or just take it for what it is so long as the benefits still outweigh the annoyances).

      • Sean

        It’s an inconvenience

        It’s a fucking insult and it should make you angry.

      • R C Dean

        Concur. It has no real medical or public health purpose. It comes from the place of quasi-religious moral condemnation of the unclean. It is an unethical medical procedure that should never be done without the true informed consent (meaning, no consequences from either refusing or accepting it). It is on no better moral or ethical footing than the vax itself.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        It’s a fucking insult and it should make you angry.

        If I got pissed for every insult my employer (unintentionally or otherwise) lobs at me, I’d have been gone long ago. Forcing us to sit through insane trainings (both in quantity and subject matter). Constant indoctrination via email, meetings, trainings and even our screensavers to business values that don’t align with my worldview. Tracking and classifying every minute of work time. Hell, up until a few years ago, they’d track our badge data and yell at us if we worked from home too much.

        I’d take the nose swab over most of that other stuff. It’s a helluva lot less obnoxious than every layer of the company spewing bigoted shit on a regular basis and claiming the moral authority of their bigotry. I’ll take a swab up the ass before I acquiesce to any of that BS.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I was willing to go that path when Biden first announced that we would have to take weekly tests. Fine. Now though? Fuck right off. I will stay as long as I can and maybe I will get that exemption that is STILL pending.

  5. trshmnstr the terrible

    *rowdy applause*

    I’m sorry that you’re going through this, but you’re not gonna suffer long. Your skills and your work ethic are going to make some employer really happy. It’s too bad that it isn’t the FAA, but hopefully you land somewhere even more fulfilling and interesting to you.

    • Sean

      ^^ What trashy said.

    • juris imprudent

      Seconding TtT and hoping you find more rewarding employment than Uncle Sugar.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks trashy! And thanks for your work. When and if they actually get around to my accommodation request, it will be utilized to a great extent.

  6. Yusef drives a Kia

    Bravo OBE! I just walked away, at least you told them off first,
    God Speed!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks, Yusef! I know I am not a great writer and I have Tonio’s receipts to prove it. But seeing just everyday folk writing here, sharing life and hobby stirred me to it.

  7. rhywun

    I failed my first assignment.

    Yeah… I don’t do well with head-games like that. At least I would have been out on my ass before wasting too much of people’s time.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Ha! Yeah, I knew logically there wouldn’t be a draft, but man that propaganda coupled with a fear of my family and us increasing war to another nation just scared me right into the recruiters office.

      • Rat on a train

        I registered for the draft at Basic.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      For some reason this reminded me of the boxer Rocky Graziano. He was in prison and when he got out of prison, the Army drafted him in 1942. He didn’t care for that too much.

      • Rat on a train

        Less freedom? Worse food?

      • Bobarian LMD

        1942 might have had some other issues surrounding service in the armed forces.

  8. DEG

    OBE, this is excellent.

    I hope for the best for you.

    I second what trashy said above: You’ve got what it takes to succeed. If you get pushed out, you won’t be out of work for long.

  9. Rat on a train

    My wife cheated on me with my best friend, left for California with the kids and I struggled. I was deep in debt and worked hard to find a way out of the military, not because I didn’t like it but because the mere fact of being in I was going into about $1500 in debt a month because of child support.
    That is fucked right there.

    • Tundra

      Patriarchy, dude.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I thought men didn’t support abortions because they could just shirk all responsibility?

    • Ownbestenemy

      It was a very rough part of my life I can tell you that. The judge tossed in my BAH, clothing allowance, and sustenance allowance in his calculation of my income. E5 made a little over $2000 a month at the time and the great State of California garnished my wages at about $800/month. Granted, it’s the military so you can get by with a little bit of money if you are single. But I still needed to see my kids and they were so young I was traveling 30 hours to pick them up.

      • ron73440

        I’ve seen it happen too many times.

        Especially to young enlisted, because the judges and lawyers have no sympathy.

        They have to know what they are doing.

      • Rat on a train

        Clothing allowance? That is really fucked up.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My advocate (I was too poor and family also couldn’t help with attorney fees) was able to convince the judge he couldn’t use that little “explanation of benefits” thing we got at the end of the year that claimed we made $100K / year if we factor in all our benefits. The judge straight up was a dick to me. I was in Airmen Leadership School when my hearing was set and I could only appear telephonicly. He allowed it just once and then threatened me with contempt if I didn’t show up for the next court date. The First Sergeants Club found a way to get me to Cali and somehow get me leave that I was exhausted of. I don’t know how.

      • Rat on a train

        Good that your leadership was there for you.

      • Gustave Lytton

        ^^^

        Our (turned out to be POS and was gone not long after) admin NCO dropped the ball on return transportation from a school when I was a young pup. Called the duty room on a Sunday afternoon, 1SG answered, told us to hang tight, and either he or one of the platoon sgts (can’t remember which it was) drove the two hours to pick up. Left an impression on wet behind the ears me, when Top says something is going to happen, it will and immediately. Also went for negative stuff, too.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Jody is a motherfucker.

      Literally.

  10. cyto

    I am opposed to the mandates. It is bad policy and unconstitutional ….. And if we are being honest, creeping toward fascism.

    I am also a former medical researcher in the field of immunology. As such, I was not too worried about getting a vaccine even though I had already had the virus, just to keep Karen’s mouth shut and allow me to do my volunteer work at church and school helping children reach their potential morally and academically. I refused to allow them to give the vaccine to my kids, having no benefit and all risk, however modest.

    So, with pragmatism in mind…..

    Does this give you leverage? How many employees are they losing? Is it significant enough to leverage raises or promotions? with a labor shortage being exacerbated by this mandate, there could be a lot of leverage in the right company, if not where you are, at a competitor?

    • juris imprudent

      You are asking questions that in a normal world make sense. We are not living in a normal world anymore.

      • Nephilium

        A nearby gas station had a sign up that they were looking for workers, and offering a $1,000 bonus. $1,000 to start working at a gas station…

      • DEG

        WTF?

      • Nephilium

        Yep. Hourly position, $11/hour with a $1,000 bonus, just found it online. Job is showing as being posted on 10/1/21

      • Not Adahn

        You have to buy your own body armor.

      • Bobarian LMD

        That’s what the grand is for.

        Uniform allowance.

      • db

        I saw a sign on the PA Turnpike yesterday for a trucking company, offering a $15,000 signing bonus for drivers with hazmat/tanker certifications.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I work at Army Recruiting. That shit right there is eating our lunch.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Will it give me leverage? No. However, we are pretty razor thin in the technical side of the FAA and at minimum takes about 2 years to spin up a radar and automation technician. Right now, to cover 18 hours a day, 7 days a week we have to have 8 people minimum to ensure we are following OSHA practices, 2-man rule, etc. Any loss of just one will leave gaping holes of coverage.

      Unfortunately, my technical skill set with radars and communication electronics is either government for FedCon. I live adjacent to Old Fart City so I will probably spin up a small computer company for setting up emails, troubleshooting internet, etc.

  11. The Other Kevin

    Thanks for writing this. You have my utmost respect, and I wish you luck.

  12. Sean

    https://thepostmillennial.com/eu-chief-nuremberg-code

    Ursula Van Der Leyen, the head of the EU commission, told the press on Wednesday that she is in favour of scrapping the long-standing Nuremburg Code and forcing people to get vaccinated against COVID.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Where should we hold the crimes against humanity trials this time?

      • R C Dean

        Trials?

        (1) Who, exactly, would hold them?

        (2) Lampposts will do just fine. They’ll have to, because I see no alternative.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        There is no cavalry coming to the rescue.

        This will be the rulers against the ruled.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Tar & Feathers.

      • Rat on a train

        You only get to prosecute the defeated.

    • juris imprudent

      Let’s see, the head of the EU commission is accountable to… to… someone?

    • R C Dean

      We’ve been wondering when we would go Solzhenitsyn and open fire when the door gets kicked down. . . .

    • rhywun

      This sort of thing is what hyping “omicron” as the next doom-panic, without any evidence, was all about.

    • robc

      Ursula Van Der Leyen

      Looks like a nazi name to me.

    • ron73440

      Filippa Bua, who was administering the vaccine, said she “felt offended” by the attempt to deceive her,

      I hate people.

      • Sean

        How does she feel about her government?

    • rhywun

      Anti-vaxxer

      Fuck off.

  13. db

    OBE, I have a ton of respect for you and your decisions here. So far, I’m not in this situation, but I’m not certain exactly what I’d do. I’m still hoping that the legal interventions and examples of others who do have to make the choice will lead to a less authoriarian policy before this one takes hold permanently.

    Thanks for the work you do and the example you are setting.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I despise that people are even put in these positions. It is so damn terrible.

    • Fourscore

      I concur with db. Fortunately I don’t have to make that decision. I’m not sure what I would do. When I was working I know my boss said we would never do drug testing, I’m guessing he would just say no to the mandates.

      I was in a similar situation when I was getting divorced, only I had custody. I’m so glad all that nonsense is behind me.

      We’re proud of the example you’re setting.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Thanks, Fourscore. I showed my wife your post about HH and she said it is a must next time around.

      • Fourscore

        Third Sunday in September, meet friends you never knew you knew.

  14. Ownbestenemy

    Thanks all. So I wrote this when they were threatening to start discipline on November 9th, the day we were supposed to declare our vaccination status. Then they slowly and quietly pushed that line back to November 23rd, and as noted in the news, until after the holidays.

    That last part is sitting in my email, as a draft with all the names added in the “To” field. I might as well add mayor Pete’s name to it also. I figured I wasn’t disparaging enough and it is just a passionate letter on what you are doing, a purge of anyone willing to say no.

    • hayeksplosives

      I admire your principled stand. After spending nearly my entire career as one sort of federal contractor or another, I caved. The prospect of endless boosters as well as whatever they feel emboldened to do next gives me a lot to think about, going forward…

      BTW, my only suggestion on your letter is to me more specific on the issue you object to. As it reads above, you bring up the topic as “all this craziness”. It doesn’t reference COVID overreaction or vaccinations.

      Wishing you all the best. If you hold out long enough, maybe the feds will back off as they continue losing legal battles.

      BTW, what is Old Fart City?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sun City, Anthem, other +55 year old communities. Yeah that letter is in draft and of course will evolve if they do discipline and move to remove. I just have to be careful not to ruin my chances at appeal.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That was the scariest part of making this choice. That it won’t move the needle. It won’t rouse the nation and I am okay with that. My job is to my family and we made this one.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Rest assured that there are a lot of red-pilled people out there and the number is growing daily.

        I just don’t see how the gap between the true believers and the disaffected gets resolved without bloodshed though.

      • R C Dean

        I think the Nerfherder is right. The vicious, self-righteous, quasi-religious reaction of the Anointed prompts many (like me) to just not engage with them. On those occasions when I send out a few feelers with somebody who isn’t apparently one of the Anointed, I generally get nods of agreement. I was chatting with a new VP yesterday, and the conversation turned inevitably to the ‘Vid. I told him I didn’t think the masks did much, were mostly there so people could feel like they were doing something, and I could tell it was a new thought, but he nodded. I mentioned the vaccinations seemed to fade really quickly and the new variant seemed to be showing up in people who had the booster. He nodded.

        I keep it pretty low-key, pretty “I’m just not convinced”. I get few disagreements, but I also avoid any convo about the pandemic with someone who I think is Anointed.

      • Pope Jimbo

        The only pushback I’d give you is that by keeping quiet any other crypto-allies don’t realize that there are other fellow travelers out there.

        I understand if it is just you and the Anointed. You won’t change their minds.

        But in a mixed setting, consider the fact that by dummying up the Anointed win. If you ask questions and utter wrongthink you will let others know that they aren’t alone. Or maybe even get the Neutrals who don’t care one way or the other to actually think about the crazy stuff they are being told.

        Like being vaxxed, I don’t judge anyone on whether they speak up or not. I feel able to be Loud and Proud because I’m pretty sure I won’t be fired and even if I am I’m in a good spot financially (and could probably have a new job in a week if I wanted it).

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I know that feeling. There will be no folk heroes emerging from this. There will be no repentance from a mistaken but well intentioned majority. The future is more of this in increasing frequency and depravity, and the best you can do is decide when enough is enough for your family.

  15. invisible finger

    Wow, OBE. Your story sounds very similar to my father, only he joined the air force in the early 50’s. I won’t elaborate on it here, but you are not alone – not now and not in the recent past. You will survive, and probably longer than the current incarnation of the FAA.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks. There is no way I would be in this position without the support of my wife and of course this place where we cherish freedom

  16. ron73440

    My company is asking for proof of the jab to be submitted.

    I have it, but for some reason doing this bothers me.

    Logically it doesn’t make sense, they know I got it, why not show the proof?

    • rhywun

      Because it’s none of their got-danged business.

      • invisible finger

        They’ll claim they need it to “keep health insurance costs down.”

        Maybe the best thing to come of this will be the end of the current health insurance racket as we know it, and a return to mutual societies. But I’m not holding my breath.

    • invisible finger

      It should bother you. It isn’t about health, nor is it about safety.

      It’s about demanding you signal your virtue. The worst of all possible sins.

  17. Ownbestenemy

    Fun fact. The best friend that did me dirty? Still my best friend. I didn’t fault him. He was a horny teenager that had my slut wife throw herself at him. I got him back though, so we are square. Men are just as catty as women 😉

    • Ghostpatzer

      I got him back though, so we are square

      Pics or it didn’t happen.

      • juris imprudent

        He divorced the bitch so she would marry his best friend.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ha! He found out he stuck it in crazy right quick. I remember our SNCO forced him and I to work a midshift together, alone. It was just thick air between our two desks and finally I shot him an email “Wanna share a smoke?” and from then on, we were bosom buddies.

      • Tres Cool

        A friend of mine, and old hillbilly type from Cookeville, TN used to joke “my 1st wife ran off with my best friend. God, I miss him.”
        He had a raging drinking problem and would also joke, “Son, Ive fucked so much with a soft-dick I could shoot pool with a rope.”

        RIP Dave

    • ron73440

      Woman: What were you in prison for?

      Bronco Billy: I caught my wife with my best friend so I shot her.

      W: Shot her, what about him?

      BB: I couldn’t shoot him, he was my best friend.

      I don’t remember a damn thing about this movie except this conversation.

  18. Ghostpatzer

    Kudos for sticking to your principles, OBE, that is a difficult thing to do. The final sentence says it all for me:

    They get to see someone stand up for what they believe in, even if they themselves don’t believe it. It is by far the hardest decision I have ever had to make.

    I also have two sons. You have given yours a great gift; I will be sharing this with mine, especially my youngest who is struggling with the authoritarianism at his uni. Thanks for sharing.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks for reading! They don’t quite understand why I am willing to go this route but they do understand that I didn’t come to it by firing from the hip or as I now call it, pulling a Baldwin.

      • Ghostpatzer

        They are lucky to have a father who stuck it out despite the shit their mother pulled on you. My sperm donor split before my first birthday, and I’m pretty sure that the lack of a father was a major contributing factor to my struggles as a young man. The role of a father in raising children is terribly undervalued these days. Toxic masculinity, my ass.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Man and his dog. Thanks for that Tundra

    • Ghostpatzer

      Very nice, thanks.

    • hayeksplosives

      Thanks.

  19. Certified Public Asshat

    I work for a large food manufacturer (so we would have had to comply with the mandate). In the corporate office I am in the 20-25% who are not vaccinated/won’t show their card.

    The plant workers are holding strong at just under 50% vaccinated. It really would be a disaster if the mandate is pushed through.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      When I walked from Mycopia, they eliminated my position completely, they couldn’t find anyone qualified, this, according to my old Super. And he warned the TPTB he would lose his staff, and he did.

      • Ownbestenemy

        And that is a truly screwed up thing.

  20. Ownbestenemy

    I noticed as I got older, I lost my eyebrows. I used to have eyebrows….what the hell man.

    • Tundra

      That’s how it works – no hair where you want it and plenty of hair where you don’t.

      (Invest in a goddamn clipper, old guys. Bushy nose and ear hair are not classy!)

      • Ownbestenemy

        Wife sneak attacks me in the bathroom to ensure I don’t have that. She is like this

      • Tundra

        LOL!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Very underrated sitcom

      • Rat on a train

        I heard someone say hair is like people. It migrates to warmer places as it ages.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Bushy nose and ear hair are not classy

        Nose hairs are easy to deal with, a clipper will do as noted. I dealt with the ear hair by growing what’s left on my head past my shoulders. The look of a tonsured old man with a receding hairline and shoulder-length hair distracts most people from the ear fur.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Hahaha I am laughing uncontrollably at this, I don’t know why.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Narrator: OBE has seen me on Zooms.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Nose hairs are easy to deal with

        “And pinch, and yank. And pinch, and yank.”

        /Richard simmons

      • hayeksplosives

        I hot wax my dear hubs’ ears from time to time. Pet trimmer for the back and shoulders, as depicted in the Malcolm scene.

        It’s at his request. Not my insistence.

      • Tres Cool

        My hairline isn’t receding. I like the ‘larger ladies’ and its thigh-burns.

    • ron73440

      Maybe they came to visit me mine are out of control.

      Sometimes I brush them backward with my fingers to irritate the wife.

    • R C Dean

      That’s just backwards. Mine are getting shaggy, and get the buzzer when I do my weekly beard and head trim.

  21. kinnath

    Woodchippers for everyone . . .

    The parents of the Michigan high school shooting suspect are charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the rampage

    • Ghostpatzer

      Why not charge his teachers as well? In loco parentis and all.

      • Translucent Chum

        Maybe. They let the kid stay in school after seeing a picture that was so disturbing that they called the parents in the middle of the day, and had them come to the school to talk with the him. He started shooting kids after that meeting.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Yeah, not politically driven at all. Charged the kid with terrorism? WTF. Look throw the book at the kid, but that charge is beyond in my opinion.

  22. Penguin

    OBE, I can only match the commending statements above. It’s a decent, pithy representation of where you stand.

    In the second paragraph, there’s this line: “your answer is to rid of me? ” I didn’t know if you wrote it that way intentionally.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I did..but am I missing something?

      • juris imprudent

        to be or not to be

      • kinnath

        He’ll get it sooner or later.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well now I feel dumb. Back to watching Spaceballs on YouTube

      • juris imprudent

        You have no idea how many of those typos I have dropped myself. Your own proofreading always just puts the missing word in place.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I blame Tonio…

      • whiz

        Don’t feel bad, I don’t know how many times I proofread my writing and don’t catch that words are missing — my mind puts it in there when I’m rereading it.

      • whiz

        Whoops, I need to refresh more often. What JI said.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I aint gonna lie, I skimmed Hamlet to see if I made some unknown reference. I hate and love this place all at once.

      • juris imprudent

        Okay, I’m going to be chuckling about that for a while.

  23. R C Dean

    Meanwhile, in clownshows, the Smollet trial.

    [Smollet’s lawyer] Walker appeared close to tears as she argued with the judge and soon left the courtroom with her mother,

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Wait… his lawyer was crying and left with her mom?

      WTF

      • DEG

        Yeah. That is a WTF moment.

      • juris imprudent

        Obviously Juicy has been coaching her on dramatics.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Didn’t she claim the judge lunged at her and made snarling facial expressions any time she objected? Oh, I should have clicked the link. Yeah way to debase your profession you cunte

  24. Drake

    Well done sir.

    My wife and I are refusing our companies’ constant badgering about vaccines. (Both were waiting for legal cover from the Feds to make it mandatory)

    We’ll go stick it out until fired if it comes to that. We are at a stage in life where we could afford to live off of savings or much lower income if needed.

    But I don’t blame people who caved. Twenty years ago we had a lot less saved and 2 young kids. I can’t say for sure what we would have done.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Exactly. If this was even 5 years ago, it wouldn’t have been on the table. We would spend a bit on physical media (wife loves her TV shows) and cancel nearly everything and go to barebones if we need. We don’t have to, but that was one of our long conversations.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        would spend a bit on physical media (wife loves her TV shows) and cancel nearly everything and go to barebones if we need.

        *looks for the cameras in my house*

        Seriously, we’ve been stacking up cheapo secondhand DVDs and preparing to go barebones.

  25. ron73440

    I understand why I don’t have friends and today is another reminder.

    Slow day at the office so a everyone else is just bullshitting.

    All they do is complain about people that aren’t here and telling stories about the dumbest shit imaginable.

    My wife teases me for being anti social, but I have no desire to join in.

    Not just me right?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Not just you.

      • Fourscore

        I was always the guy you are complaining about. Most of the employees would work hard just to avoid me.

    • creech

      Jump right in and liven things up. Make everyone of their stories remind you of something political or religious.

    • juris imprudent

      WFH with no camera and on mute allows me to react to stupidity as I never could face to face.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      #meToo

      Having unplugged from TMITE and SMITE, I have a tough time keeping up in social situations. I don’t know or care what the latest streaming binges are. I watch some sports but don’t follow closely anymore. I try to avoid work drama. I get a taste of current events from here, but don’t usually know much about them. I imagine that I come off as incredibly boring, but the feeling is mutual. As a result, I have maybe 3 people that I would call friends, and only one of them lives in the area.

      • R C Dean

        I don’t know or care what the latest streaming binges are.

        Same here. Everybody gets all excited about some new show, and when I look at it, I generally think “That looks . . . not good enough to spend time on.” I’m tempted to join these conversations by giving a blow-by-blow of one of R. J.’s GlibFlix.

      • DEG

        I’m tempted to join these conversations by giving a blow-by-blow of one of R. J.’s GlibFlix.

        🙂

        I still have to finish “Tokyo Gore Police”. I put it aside to have the latest “Covid Revealed” episode going in the background.

      • rhywun

        I got about halfway through TGP but wasn’t really following the silliness so I probably won’t return.

      • ron73440

        I imagine that I come off as incredibly boring, but the feeling is mutual.

        Exactly this.

        I can talk to my wife about a variety of topics, but once someone asked about the book I was reading and you could see their eyes glaze over.

        It was Frederick Douglass’s autobiography.

      • hayeksplosives

        I have a true confession:

        I don’t know what TMITE and SMITE mean.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The Media Is The Enemy, Social Media Is The Enemy

    • Sean

      “I got a new gun over the weekend.”

      “Can you believe the prices on 5.56?”

      Conversation starters.

      • R C Dean

        I purely love talking about gun stuff at the office. About half the people, maybe more, in any given group will squirm.

        I keep the pics of my last trip to Front Sight on my phone.

        “Check it out – this is slugs out of an 18 and a half inch barrel. From 35 and 50 yards, every one on target. I wouldn’t have thought you could get that kind of accuracy. With 12 gauge slugs, even that one on the edge will put a man on the ground. ”

        “Here’s where we patterned our shotguns. The target is the same size as an average person [gotta throw that in for the squirmage]. Can you believe how tight the pattern is on that headshot? That was from 10 yards!”

      • Not Adahn

        USPSA membership renewal notice today. Wish I had enough mad money laying around for a life membership so I wouldn’t have to deal with this. Alas. If I had it, I’d have spent it on a case of ammo.

      • DEG

        🙂

        That would have worked at my old company before the acquisition. Lots of libertarians and gun owners.

        Around the acquisition, lots of them left.

      • R C Dean

        Still works, at least for your entertainment.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well that is embarrassing…but I guess could be a good conversation starter at work.

      • juris imprudent

        “It’s just my job to do” sounds better in the original German.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        So does “it doesn’t matter if you feel it isn’t right, it’s the law.”

      • Tres Cool

        That accent just grates on me for some reason.
        However, exceptions have been made (I briefly dated a S. African woman) and could tolerate her for at least 15-20 minutes.

      • Drake

        I just got back from a business trip. I try to stay in some of the social conversations but have to remind myself not say exactly those kinds of things.

        Or “Have you heard the latest covid bullshit they expect us to believe? I bet this Omicron crap is just a reaction to the vax.”

      • rhywun

        There’s almost no chatter about the outside world at my job, thank goodness.

        Given that my company have said virtually nothing about its intentions in these trying times (other than “we’re looking into options blah blah blah”), a lot of people have got to be bursting at the seams about now.

    • Pope Jimbo

      All they do is complain about people that aren’t here and telling stories about the dumbest shit imaginable.

      *Looks around semi-empty cube areas trying to figure out who Ron is*

      My stories are wonderfully entertaining and it isn’t complaining. It is simply a factual recounting of the slings and arrows of misfortune that I have had to endure here.

      • Pope Jimbo

        More seriously, any time there is a work meeting and someone draws first blood by saying something political, I get Loud and Proud with my crazy talk.

        I have openly told others that they are child abusers when they talk about getting their kids vaccinated. I let it be known that I wouldn’t reveal my vax status (even though I did get the jab in hopes I would be able to visit family in Japan) because I considered it to be wrong.

        The only pushback I got is from one gal who just warned me that another gal was a True Branch Covidian. I offended the Branch Covidian with my talk about how wrong it is to keep kids out of school. But who cares? I’m already considered a crazy person by most.

        I was semi-silent when they did the 2 Weeks to Flatten the Curve. Looking back, we all should have freaked out back then. Fuck Trump for caving to the “experts”.

      • Fourscore

        I always respected you as the most sane lib at the HH. Have you looked at the other ones? Wowee

      • Pope Jimbo

        Sanest Glib at the Honey Harvest

        That may replace “Tallest Midget” in our pop culture’s slang.

        Also, I’m not sure I want that title. I know it isn’t Tundra. Maybe PO Nick? My wife really liked talking to him.

    • Tres Cool

      Walk around the office like a crab, and great everyone with “Balls up Kingfish!”

  26. Tulip

    I admire you OBE.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Why thank you Tulip!

  27. kinnath

    Megacorp finally acknowledged the FedContractor deadline had been moved by at Jan 18. So, one of my coworkers gets to stay employed through the Christmas break.

    With any luck, the courts will shut this down before megacorp decides to force booster shots on the already-vaccinated.

    • R C Dean

      If my company, either on its own or because the CMS mandate survives review, orders boosters, that may be my line in the sand. They’ll have to fire me, and if they try to strip my severance (which I don’t think they will do, because I kind of scare them), we will be exploring whole new realms of “disgruntled ex-employee”.

      • kinnath

        I am too old to find another job. I am not financially prepared for retirement yet.

        So, I am definitely hoping this is resolved before my employer decides to mandate boosters.

      • R C Dean

        I’m about a year from retirement. Worst case scenario, getting booted early (say, in March), would cost me around $500,000 (including deferred comp), maybe more. But I wouldn’t miss any meals, wouldn’t have sto sleep on the street. Mrs. Dean is with me on this, although if it comes to the knife’s edge, we’ll do a gut check.

      • R.J.

        Same.

    • Nephilium

      I’m curious as to what happens if the injunction against the contractor mandate here in Ohio is still in effect when the mandate date hits.

      • R C Dean

        Nothing. The injunction means its suspended.

      • Ownbestenemy

        From OSHA rule, not from company rule though right? I think enough companies feel emboldened that they can fight out or pay out any court cases brought against them.

      • R C Dean

        From OSHA rule, not from company rule though right?

        That is correct.

      • Drake

        A lot of non-healthcare civilian companies seem to have lost their enthusiasm for firing the unvaxxed without legal cover. They talk tough and send ominous emails, but are vague on deadlines and consequences. I delete that kind of email every morning.

      • Nephilium

        Local hospitals have announced they’re backing down on firing the unvaccinated:

        University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic reverse orders; will allow unvaccinated caregivers to stay on the job

        Specifically because of the injunction:

        UH and the Clinic had announced that they would follow the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, a federal court injunction issued Tuesday temporarily blocks the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) from enforcing the mandate.

  28. Tundra

    Well, I’m pulling the plug for the day. I’m going to go for a walk in the sunshine and then help my daughter move to a new apartment.

    Happy trails, y’all!

  29. Pope Jimbo

    OBE, I’m sorry this is fucking you in the ass.

    But surely you realize that radar beams could hit the Rona viruses that you are shedding and mutate them into some super spreader shit?

    Seriously, best of luck to you. Even if you are a radar guy (Navigation Aids is where all the cool kidz are).

    • Ownbestenemy

      Anyone can modulate and demodulate RF, the real trick is making it into video…that my friend, is why you are nothing but a radio jockey.

      Our weather radar is a big golf-ball looking thing, if you have never seen a NEXRAD or TDWR and I always tell people when they ask what I do “Do you know that site? Yes? We use that as a mass scrambling device to deter erroneous RF from interfering with plane navigational.” Nearly everyone buys it.

      • Pope Jimbo

        LOL. You are doing nothing to dispell the stereotype of radar techs being the most pretentious of all the ATC techs.

      • Ownbestenemy

        It was amazing to see that magically as if by some outside force, all radar guys are exactly the same.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The constant bathing in a swept frequency band gradually rearranges their brains into a standard pattern.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Radar instructors are like the AMA. They teach their students the BS that they are the brightest and best and those dummies believe it.

        When I was in the service, they counted us off by 3’s after our basic electronics training. 1’s were radar, 2’s were NavAids and 3’s were Comms. That was how much thinking they put into it.

        I went through NavAids, graduated and went overseas before they told me that the $5K bonus I had been promised for signing a six year contract couldn’t be paid out because only guys with radar MOS qualified for that.

        Spent nearly a year fighting with HQ about that. They finally sent me back to radar school so I could qualify for the bonus. After I had successfully passed training on the first radar set (TPS-50?) that was the equipment that normally washed out students and had started on the TPN-22, the Corps realized that it made no sense to keep training me because by the time I finished another year of training my six years would be mostly up. So they offered me my freedom and I jumped at the chance.

        So I have first hand experience that you radar guys are as dumb as NavAids guys. (The Comms people are the worst, we can agree on that? Who can’t fix a fucking radio?)

      • juris imprudent

        Anyone can modulate and demodulate RF

        Yeah, you say that but it’s fucking complex for a non-trivial system. Even when you know the signal you are looking for. The Sig-Int people scare the beejezus out of me.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Between slotted waveguide, which I am sure it was an engineer on acid that thought “lets cut specific slots into stacked waveguide to create an RF pattern” and pulse compression to reduce power out but still achieve the range needed, it all fascinates me. I am not an RF engineer but have this book sitting on my desk and I reference it from time to time.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Antennas and RF were on the other side of the EE/CmpE divide for me. I still consider all wireless EM to be witchcraft of the darkest type.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        To be fair, we encouraged the image of dabbling in the Dark Arts.

        *waves Yagi of Hexing, recites the Impedance Chart*

      • Ownbestenemy

        f’n magic that comes out of the black box. Even when you work with it you get the feeling that you are performing some voodoo

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        LOL

        Just remember to refer to that book as Stutzman and Thiele.

        For some reason, all of the RF bibles don’t go by their titles, but the names of the authors instead.

        Now where did I put my copy of Matthaei, Young, and Jones?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I guess my experience in the field was philosophically instructive.

        There is almost nothing that you develop in the RF/microwave area which performs exactly as modeled. There are simply too many variables to account for. So you get it close, prototype, tune, revise, prototype, tune, etc… until you get close enough that you can actually build the damn things.

        Once you get to 50 GHz, it really starts to get wild. Even the slightest grounding issues cause problems. Temperature shifts cause boards to shift under bolts and generate spurious clock issues on radios, etc…

        After years of doing that, I became highly suspect of anyone who claimed their computer models were accurate enough to predict anything. We used models all the time, but over a certain scale they could only point you in a general direction, not deliver specific results. And that’s even though EM fields can be predicted, they are physically and behaviorally consistent with the laws of the universe. The idea that you can model the climate is just absurd.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      I thought they couldn’t spread because the radar beams turned the Rona viruses gay.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Just the ones that the navy uses…

      • Tres Cool

        300 sailors head out, 150 couples come back

  30. Drake

    On Monday I got my negative covid test so could travel. At a team meeting with a dozen other people – I think I’m the only non-vaccinated. Three people there were pretty damn sick. Two of them are remote workers who almost never come to the office. I took my zinc and quercetin as soon as I left.

    Yesterday and today visiting a hospital lab where everyone has to be vaccinated – more people sick and one of the managers I needed to work with has been out sick all week.

    This is getting weird.

    • Surly Knott

      See this and know that it is weird.

  31. Ownbestenemy

    I know I already said thanks up thread, but want to let you all know I appreciate your words. We have such a great community here with so many walks of life and choices made but somehow, we only sound like siblings when we argue about what pizza toppings and how we are to escape our inevitable district’s concentration homes. I was nervous to even write it but Tonio and Swissy are pretty persuasive. Tonia did all the heavy lifting for me and it just might have popped the cork to write some more.

    • Pope Jimbo

      popped the cork

      Sure. Sure it was a cork. You just want us to keep calling you Cherry Boy don’t you?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well I did gender Tonio/a

      • Tres Cool

        Tonia is gonna stick. Almost as good as Suthen and “Yufus”.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Is Tonia just Tonio with a metal baton running around kneecapping people?

      • Tres Cool

        I know her t0ts are a wreck, but Tonya Harding really takes the wrinkles out of my love-sausage.
        That ideal combo of crazy, thicc LAIGS, and potentially violent white trash.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Be careful. She may just take your love sausage as a trophy.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I love you Tres, but you ain’t right.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        #METOO!!!

      • Tres Cool

        You need commitment, and be willing to die for the pu$$y.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Say What?
        /Tall Cans!

    • Fourscore

      Tonio is our friend. Swissy got the “Gaze”. Glad they are on our team.

    • DEG

      This is a good place with good people.

      Please let us know how all this goes for you.

    • db

      Tonia

      Uh oh, there’s more than one?

  32. grrizzly

    Huge respect for your stand, OBE.

    Sometimes I cannot believe what we’re living through. Sane, healthy people completely rationally make a decision not to subject themselves to an experimental medical treatment that is utterly ineffective and clearly unsafe and yet they are ostracized by a large part of the society. Vax cultists, you fucked up, not us.

    In late August my partner submitted a request for a religious exemption in his state college in CA. To this day the administration hasn’t requested any kind of justification. There’s no communication about whether it was granted or rejected. He keeps teaching at least one class in person.

  33. cyto

    rhywun on December 3, 2021 at 11:54 am
    Because it’s none of their got-danged business

    This is something that our nation has lost.

    There was a time when the default position in life was “none of my business”. And not ” let my neighbor drown” kind of “none of my business”, but a version of respecting other people, their dignity and their autonomy.

    That just doesn’t exist anymore… Not in blue country anyway.

    There was a time when a man stood on his own two feet, being on the dole was shameful, and sticking your nose in where it was not welcome was a good way to get a broken nose.

    We used honorific like ” Mr.” And “sir” when talking with stranger and particularly with our elders. Now the kid running the register wants to call you by your first name, like he is your buddy.

    The loss of this tiny bit of formality is relevant. Because time was, people who used “Mr.” In front of your name knew that they were not close enough to stick their nose in your business. You don’t start asking Mr. Smith about his healthcare choices and lecturing him. But you do tell Tom he should lose 25 pounds like the doctor said, because Tom is a friend. Mr. Smith is an acquaintance.

    Now they have broken it all down, such that the Karen in line with you who barely can hold down a clerical job feels empowered to lecture you on your personal life and health choices.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Uffda.

      When my kids were small we always got comments from other adults about them using Mr. and Mrs. They seemed amazed that kids like that existed. I would point out that it was called “manners”.

    • DEG

      Fugio cent

      This coin was designed by Benjamin Franklin; as a reminder to its holders, he put at its bottom the message, “Mind your business”. This design was based on the 1776 “Continental dollar” coin, which was produced in pattern pieces but was never circulated.[4]

      Some historians believe that the word “business” was intended literally here, as Franklin was an influential and successful businessman. It does not mean “mind your own business” as that phrase is used today, but rather, “pay attention to your affairs”.[

      OK, not quite what you had in mind, but close enough.

      I think it should have stayed on US currency.

      • ron73440

        Both interpretations are correct.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I distinctly remember calling my first real boss Mr. XXXX, and he responded with a smirk and called me Mr. [Trshmnstr]. In my (millennial) experience, honorifics are only used in court and by children when speaking to adults.

      In fact, I try to be informal in much of my professional communication because people get tense and cagey when somebody from legal sends them an email out of the blue starting “Dear Mr. Suchandso,”

      I probably let it bleed over into my personal life a bit too much, but I do admire the boundaries that honorifics erect.

  34. Ghostpatzer

    There was a time when a man stood on his own two feet, being on the dole was shameful

    Tell me about it. When dear old dad flew the coop in 1954, Mom moved in with abuela (who abuelo had recently ditched for a woman my mother’s age) and went to work as a bookkeper, making about $60/wk as I recall. Never took a dime from govt. When I was old enough to wonder about this I asked her why she hadn’t gone on welfare. She told me that if she had done so, she would have become dependent and no longer free; she considered this disgraceful. I miss her.

    • cyto

      My grandmother was a famous tea-totaller. They were dirt poor with 11 kids back in the great depression. My grandfather was a WWI vet who never held a decent job. But, as they say, they were proud people.

      They lived near the train tracks, so the hoboes would come to the back porch, asking for a meal. They had little enough for themselves… But she never turned them away, and never took a handout in her life. Her only rule for the transients was they had to stay out back and they could not have alcohol on her property.

      People had a different view of honor and responsibility before the government usurped the role of charity.

    • ron73440

      I had the opposite experience.

      When we were eligible Mom would take us to get Govt cheese and milk powder.

      We weren’t that poor, we lived on a dairy farm so milk was definitely not a problem.

      I would get so mad being in that line, I was maybe 7, it’s one of my earliest memories.

      As I typed this I could feel rage building inside me.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Yuck, sorry about that.

        We weren’t that poor

        I didn’t know we were poor until I got older and someone pointed it out to me. Still, we had a roof over our heads and three squares every day, which in most of the world then and now is unimaginable wealth. Only in America is obesity the leading health problem for the poor.

      • ron73440

        Yuck, sorry about that.

        Made me into the asshole I am today.

    • rhywun

      My mom went on welfare after divorcing my father when I was 3, but she had four kids to raise so I couldn’t blame her. I was the youngest and by the time some of my siblings had flown the coop and I was old enough, she was back in the workforce for good, to her credit. There were a bunch of boyfriends floating in and out of our lives until she eventually found a good one but she never really counted on them for support.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My mom took the old school church handouts and eventually WIC (when it was just cheese, milk, bread, ceral and beans) for about a month. Then after the dust settled when my dad left, he was paying her quietly and without court order to sustain the household. I always had an evil eye for my dad until I learned A: they didn’t get divorced so to lesson the tax burden and B: paid my mom for us kids and the house he no longer was living in.

        Things our parents keep from us as little ones, that we learn when we are older.

  35. UnCivilServant

    After finishing my errands, I went walkabout (or drivabout, since I wasn’t walking) with no real goal. After many intermediate stops, I ended up at one of the local game stores I hadn’t been to in over a year. I’d been avoiding the place because I took the old woman who ran it as prime covidiot material. Turns out she retired and closed that store, but a new one opened in the same space catering to the same customer base. The new guy remodeled, making the place brighter and less gloomy, put up a sign saying concealed carry was a-ok, and there was no signage whatsoever about coronavirus, or anyone wearing masks. Plus they now offer 3d-printing services, if you provide the data file.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Nice. It’s not all doom and gloom.

      • UnCivilServant

        I bought a clan invasion box to get the MadCat mini because I couldn’t make up my mind between other possibilities. not sure what I’m going to do with the other mechs though.

  36. MikeS

    Much respect, Own. Thanks a lot for sharing. It sounds like you should be able to find gainful employment pretty easily, but it sucks what they are doing to you.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks MikeS. Probably go into self-employement. Either expand my wife’s business or start up my own if it comes to that.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I don’t know what the laws are in NZ, but administering a medical treatment without informed consent is typically considered a crime.

      • db

        At the very least, wouldn’t publicly saying you “tricked” someone into doing something they say they didn’t want to do be considered an admission of fraud?

      • Ownbestenemy

        That too. Even if the consent form she signed was the vaccine consent form, this person suddenly taking that and saying they tricked the person is a huge ethical violation.

      • R C Dean

        In the US, that would be assault. No kidding.

        In other countries? *shrug* I’ve worked with docs who came up in the NHS – they had no real concept of informed consent. Until I beat it into them, anyway.

    • rhywun

      “I am a doctor”

      Hard pass. I’m not buying it, either.

      • Tres Cool

        Nope. And looking at her other posts, she’s a never-Trump’er too

    • Ownbestenemy

      Eh…too many points on the nose but I wouldn’t put it past some zealot to do that. For instance, named her ‘Karen’, she signed a consent form…but didn’t read it? She is vehemently against finishing her regiment of shots but just okay’d this on a whimsy? And only got in trouble because he gave a sticker?

    • Sean

      Not buying it.

    • ron73440

      I used to think Imgur was entertaining, but it has turned into a cesspool.

      I really noticed it when they were all posting pics of Nick Sandmann labelled The Face of Hate.

      Once I found out what actually happened I quit except to post pictures to show specific people.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        To me, it’s an image hosting service for pics I want to post on glibs. As long as I’ve used it, the public, social aspects have been septic.

    • The Other Kevin

      “She accidentally let slip that getting a vaccine exemption would help her ‘politically’, whatever that meant.”

      No way anyone ever said this.

  37. PutridMeat

    Just adding my voice to the chorus of “much respect”. It is inspiring to see some stand by their convictions. Maybe it will be enough that there are enough brave individuals like yourself to say “No” to stop this slide we find ourselves in. On can only hope.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thanks PM. One can hope, but it isn’t the only thing we can do.

  38. Ownbestenemy

    Rep. Don Bacon
    @RepDonBacon
    Replying to
    @TheCalvinCooli1
    Most folks don’t know their own status. This is for the patient. There is no federal data base nor standard, all privacy laws are enforced and it’s not used for mandates. You can’t believe what some publications say.

    How do we fight such powerful stupidity?

  39. Translucent Chum

    Is OBE’s black box messing with afternoon links?

    • Tres Cool

      You know who else had a fine black box ?

      • Translucent Chum

        Max Zorin?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Dont blame me, Im just here for the internet money

  40. Sean
    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Might have to get me one of those.

  41. Tonio

    There were …problems… with the afternoon links, unrelated to OBE. We have a substitute linkster feverishly typing now…

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Learn to manage the Glib’s orphans better. Just say’n.

    • Count Potato

      I hope Riven is OK.

      • ZARDOZ

        THE CHOSEN ONE KNOWN AS “RIVEN” IS WELL. HOWEVER, A SCHEDULING BIND AROSE. ZARDOZ HAS FILLED IN!

        ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.

      • hayeksplosives

        More importantly, ZARDOS HAS LINKED!!

  42. westernsloper

    I had a whole snark slam on the opening Forest Gump photo with the pussy hat ready to be slammed out on my keyboard but hell ya OBE! I am so sorry the world has turned to this and you had to do that. But thank fucking god there are you’s people out there. Know there are other “you’s” people out there too. We just aint smart enough to be in your line of work.