I heard on the radio, a few days back, that Walmart would be hiring 100,000 military veterans over the next five years. The broadcast stated that as long as the soldier wasn’t dishonorably discharged, Walmart would hire him or her. A dim light came on in my dim brain and I thought, “That can’t be right.”
Not every bad actor in the military has a Dishonorable Discharge. So I checked on the internet and found I was right. Walmart is going to hire 100,000 military veterans over the next five years who have received an Honorable Discharge. Big difference. In between the Honorable and Dishonorable are other types of discharges and I would doubt that Walmart would want some of these characters. The names change through the years, but the nature of the individuals stays the same.
The least offensive of the inbetweeners is the General Discharge (under honorable conditions). This is the guy with two left feet. He’s trying, but he just can’t hack it. He is a disaster and it is best that he and the military go separate ways.
Back when you couldn’t be a homosexual in the military, we discharged them with General Discharges. When we went to “don’t ask, don’t tell,” if they told, they got a General Discharge. Now that it is OK to be gay in the military, I guess it’s Honorable. An old sarge told me that he was in when it was illegal, then, he went through “don’t ask, don’t tell. Now that it is OK, he has decided to retire, before Obama makes it mandatory.
The next category is the “Other Than Honorable” Discharge. Sounds a lot like not honorable or dishonorable. But it doesn’t mean dishonorable, it means other than honorable. I hope you’re confused. You should be. The funny thing is we used to call it an “Undesirable Discharge,” but somebody decided that sounded bad (it’s supposed to be bad!). So let me say this as succinctly as I can. Undesirable sounds worse that “Other Than Honorable,” which is not honorable, but not dishonorable. Well, we got that taken care of. Anyway, Walmart is not going to take any of these turkeys.
The General and Other Than Honorable Discharges are administrative in nature. That means someone may get one without going to trial. A trial by courts-martial may result in a Bad Conduct Discharge or a Dishonorable Discharge. Definitely not Walmart material. However, they are still eligible to be Walmart customers.
I thought I went to my first Walmart in 1958, when I was a student in Columbia, Missouri. The store was downtown, not too far from campus. The thing that got me excited was that everything had two prices on it. It had the retail price and the Walmart price. I could see what a great deal I was getting. I was young. This whole experience is so vivid in my mind. I figured that the store might have been one of Sam’s early ones. So I looked up Walmart history. The first Walmart store was in 1962 and the first store outside of Arkansas was 1968. So, that ruins my fond memory.
There’s a lot of people out there who don’t like Walmart. The big box store. “It killed the quaint little stores.” I loved the little stores in the downtown area; the hardware, the office supply store and the delicatessen. I’m sorry they went the same way of Kodak film. But people will go where they can get the widest selection at the best price. Home Depot will never be as romantic as that old downtown hardware store, but we need to get over it. Walmart isn’t just a big box store; it’s a very, very successful discount and grocery store. It’s the largest grocery store chain in the country. If someone else were selling better bananas cheaper, people would go elsewhere.
So, I tip my hat to Walmart. Doing something for military veterans in good. Giving them a job is great. Just one more reason the GI should strive to get an Honorable Discharge
Witten by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Golf Academy VII, The Sequel
If golf came in a carton, there would be a warning on the outside. I have been a serious golfer all my life. As soon as a young kid takes a swing and the ball jumps off the club and takes flight, going higher, faster and farther then ever before, the poor kid is hooked. It may have been his twelfth attempt and the first time the ball actually got airborne, but it doesn’t matter. So being a serious golfer doesn’t necessarily make one a good golfer and I have spent most of my life being a duffer.
I decided if I were going to use the word duffer, I ought to look it up. I did and in Australia it means a cattle rustler. If I go back to Australia, I won’t mention that I am a duffer. The dictionary also said that a duffer is an incompetent, ineffectual or clumsy person. Well, for most of my golfing life, I have been definitely ineffectual (clumsy for sure; incompetent at times).
I envy those people who pick up a golf club and immediately swing it with poise and grace. In my hands, it was like a medieval weapon. Oh, I was serious alright. Muscles tight. Ripping big chunks out of the golf course. Hitting just enough good shots to bring me back (does that sound familiar?). One of the things that has saved me money is the present quality of the balls. Now, when I lift my head and cut into the ball, it no longer smiles at me.
About ten years ago, at the age of 64, I attended a three-day golf school at the World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida. It was a good thing it was three days, because the first two days were a disaster. They had lots of teaching equipment. Nothing seemed to help me. The instructor refused to let me try a club with a hinge in the shaft. He was afraid I would hurt myself.
On the third day, as a last gasp, he put a velcro strap around my chest, which was attached to a bungee cord that was attached to the end of the handle of a 6 iron. He told me to hit the ball while keeping the bungee cord taunt. I failed to keep it taunt on the backswing. Then I kept it taunt on the backswing, but not on the downswing. I began to understand why he didn’t want me messing around with the hinged club. I explained to him that if I kept the cord taunt, I would hit the ground about six inches behind the ball. Then, we had a discussion as to who was the instructor and who was the student. So, keeping my bungee cord taunt, I swung back and through and SHAZAM, I hit the ball. I was like a kid with a new toy. Most of all, I knew there was hope.
Next month, I am heading down to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy (LGA) at Championgate, Orlando, Florida, for a two-day retreat. The neat thing about the retreat is they let me pick the two days. I was there in 2009 and 2011 and my golf instructor each time was Andrew Park. Andrew is from Johannesburg, South Africa. Since my last retreat, he has assisted Andy Zhang to become the youngest competitor in the 2012 US Open. He also coached Sandra Gal, who won the KIA Classic and Sun Young Yeo who won the Kraft Nabisco Major.
About three months ago, I was informed by Leadbetter Golf Academy that Andrew was no longer there and asked me to select another instructor. I asked where Andrew went and, of course, they said they didn’t know. That’s the standard answer. He had vanished! If I wanted to continue lessons with Andrew, I would have to find him myself. Well, I selected an Irishman named Sean Hogan (no relation to Ben) from Dublin. I told them he would be fine, but I didn’t want to hear any crap about the Ryder Cup. Hey, I’m the one who’s paying. Two weeks ago, I received an email from Brittany, my LGA pen pal. It appears that Sean will not be in Florida when I am scheduled for my lesson. So I gave in and responded to Brittany telling her that Sean could jerk me around about the Ryder Cup if he wanted. No dice. Other instructors were offered to me and I selected Bob Lohr. Believe me, any of the guys are over qualified to teach me.
Just three days ago, I received another email from Brittany. I thought, “On no, Bob Lohr has bailed on me.” But it turned out to be just general distribution information that they sent of everybody. It congratulated Na Yeon Choi for winning a ladies tournament in Naples, Florida. She is, of course, coached by an LGA instructor. AND, it welcomed back “instructor Andrew Park to the LGA team after a brief sabbatical.” They told me they didn’t know where he was and now it turns out he was on a “brief sabbatical.”
I went online and found out that in 2012, there was a website entitled Andrew Park Golf Academy. I guess that’s where he was when no one could find him. I called Brittany and asked her if I could have Andrew as my instructor. She advised me that he was booked up on one of my days and out of town on the other. It seems to me that if he didn’t want to instruct me there were easier ways to get out of it than disappearing for six months.
I think Bob Lohr is going to work out fine because he’s a good old American boy. That solves some problems. If Andrew were to be my instructor again, we would be studying Earnie Els swing ad nauseam. If Sean were my instructor – Ryder Cup, Ryder Cup! I wonder if Bob like country music?
Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com
The NFL’s Dumb Instant Replay Rule
Dumb, dumb, dumb. I guess I wouldn’t be so upset with the NFL if it weren’t that college football has handled the instant replay issue so well. The college system isn’t perfect, but it gets to the correct result, correcting egregious mistakes, and does it quickly.
The NFL is always learning. This year they learned that helmet to helmet hits resulting in concussions, and cheapo replacement officials were not good for the game. Hopefully, they will learn that the purpose of instant replay should be to obtain the correct result. It should not be driven by some arcane system made up of red flags, time outs, and hooded monitors.
For years, the NFL had no instant replay system for fear that it would slow up the game. It’s better to be wrong than go over their allotted TV time. Then, they came up with the red flag system where the coach could challenge a call two or three times a game, by throwing a red flag on the field. This, of course, has to be done before the next play. If the coach throws the flag and no one sees it (it has happened), it’s just like the tree that falls in the forest and no one hears it. Neither makes any noise.
The challenging coach loses a time out if he loses a challenge. If he has used all of his time outs in a particular half, then he can’t challenge. So in the first half of the Green Bay game against Minnesota last week, Green Bay was out of time outs. Minnesota was credited with a completed pass, but the replay showed clearly that the ball hit the ground. It was obvious to all. But the play was not in the last two minutes of the half (where there are booth replays) and since Green Bay had no time outs left, they could not challenge. They still had another challenge, but would have to wait till the second half, when they had a new batch of time outs.
In the NFL, all challenges are decided by the referee on the field. The red flag is thrown. The referee goes over to the sidelines and talks to the challenging coach. Then the referee announces to the crowd what every one already knows. Then the ref goes over to the “Field Level Monitor” – the hooded thing-a-ma-jig. The NFL rules state that he can only spend 60 seconds under the hood. This was to speed up the game. But no time limit was set for how long he may chat with the “replay official” in the “replay booth” before he goes under the hood or after he comes back out. The whole think is like Kabuki Theatre. Eventually, the referee will announce whether the play stands or is reversed. If the play stands, the challenging team loses a time out.
On Thanksgiving Day, the Houston Texans were in Detroit. On one play, the officials determined that the Texans had scored a touchdown. In fact, the runner’s knee and elbow were on the ground before he scored. Detroit’s coach Jim Schwartz, threw his red flag. Ah, but wait! Scoring plays are automatically reviewed. Schwartz should not have thrown his silly red flag. That constituted a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. AND, teams who are penalized are not permitted the benefit of a challenge review. Thus, the touchdown counted even though the runner was clearly down before the score.
I’m sorry, but I thought the idea of replay was to get the thing right. The rule is “indisputable video evidence.” If there is indisputable video evidence that the call on the field was wrong, then it is reversed. If it can’t be positively decided the tie goes to the runner. No, no. That’s a different game. If it can’t be decided, the play stands as called on the field.
I think almost all challenges are ruled on correctly and it is amazing how many times the real (not rental) officials on the field get it right. But my complaint is, should a horrible call stand just because the coach doesn’t have another challenge? Or, even worse, he has a challenge, but no time outs? Should a team be poorly treated because the officials have made so many bad calls that all the team’s challenges are exhausted?
That can’t happen in college ball. There are a lot more reviews and they do it in less time. No Kabuki Theatre. The NFL needs to adopt the college review procedures. I know, I know. When pigs fly. Did I really say that?
Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com