Duh ....

 Funny .. as I type this, I remember my Dad giving me some advice in HS.  It was simply " You'll always make more money  if you use what's above your neck vs below it" or something along that line.  Basically, nothing wrong with physical labor but, the big money and success is found in using your head.  Obvious shit, right?   

That's what drove my career choices in the military.  I REALLY wanted to go into the Marines, but didn't see the upside.  Now in all fairness, in my teens I didn't realize the Marines had an aviation side.  Didn't have a degree yet,  so Officer wasn't an option back then.  Army, yep had my respect as well, but I viewed them all as infantry and the reality is far from that. They have some awesome MOS's and there is the Warrant Officer and Commissioned Officer paths as well.  Hell, I tried to get into the Marines AND the Army after my second enlistment in the USAF, but for various reasons that never happened.  Navy was what my Dad pushed me towards, mainly because he was a military contractor for them (Sperry Univac, UNISYS) and he liked their education options, but I pushed back simply because being at sea on a ship for 6mos at a time didn't appeal to me.  Knowing what I know today I'd probably make the same decision, but I have a respect for the Navy today, that I didn't have then.   Which leaves us the USAF.   When I entered the Air Force, I based my decisions on the High Tech training they offered. Funny part is I ended up in Security Police my first three years, before getting into Electronic Warfare, but that's a whole diff' story.  On a positive note, I LOVED being an SP.  I'd have stayed that path had I not wanted ....  the plethora of training and options offered.   From the day I enlisted I've stood by my decisions along the way.  To this day, I'm 100% proud of serving in the USAF.  Now, my angle here is my military Brothers and Sisters love to bust balls, making jokes of all the 'other' services.  It's a game that's always been played.  No matter what the jokes are aimed at the USAF, I simply snicker.  I loved serving in that branch and it did me right in my life.

Okay ... enough of that. That's not why I'm writing all this.   I've ALWAYS said, in a large group of people, I'm not the "smartest guy in the room most likely."  Hey, it's true.   Park the ego a lil, and  you're probably thinking the same of  yourself.  Now, what we do with our brains, whatever IQ we have up there, is what differentiates us all.  Decisions we make in all aspects in our lives usually determine where we are today.  Simple as that.  But the point being, I never assume when I'm in front of a group I know it all.  Or that I'm above the rest.  Or simply smarter than the rest.  It's rarely true.

Yet today ... I find myself once again wondering .... WTF .. . are these guys actually that dumb?  I'm going around and around on an email thread this morning,  back and forth, wondering where the brain cells of the the person replying back and forth with me.  Hell, I had to go back and reread the thread to ensure I wasn't screwing up.   Every day it seems I find myself in some of these crazy conversations and think to myself....  damned.. maybe I am the smartest guy in the room (that's scary huh?).  Okay .. smartest guy in the discussion... hey it happens sometimes?

Okay ... off the high horse. But I do wonder where some folk's common sense and/or brains are sometimes.  Hell, before the elections I was on my MAGA high horse.  Is President Trump the best out there?  Nope.  Was Biden or Kamala?  Fuck no.  All I ever asked anyone to do (Dem's) was explain to me what the existing administration was doing right?  Why would they support them in the future?  Crickets.  Never saw a single answer/response with a 3 digit IQ behind it.  Never.  Thank God that BS is behind us for another four years. 

So, I'm back off to do another email reply trying not to act high and mighty when what I really want to ask is ...  "are you fucking stupid?"

There .. I feel better now.