crab
Warburtons make bread, don't they?
Seriously, yet another attack on something that isn't my actual argument, i.e. they way I am making my argument, does not go any way towards actually rebutting the argument itself. I could tell you the Latin name for the logical fallacy you are making but you'd have to look it up in your bread-maker's book.
I used the cut/paste/respond technique so that those with brains which would not fit into a jam jar can tell which point I am actually referring to when I attempt to refute it. Since this is clearly not to your liking I will, for you and for now, refrain from the technique.
You have further made the assumption that since I have defended the right of people to be fat that I must be a fatty myself ("Maybe that cutting and pasting was your exercise for the day") - something of an unreasoned response. And yes, I know I cut and pasted that quote
Please tell me if I misunderstand, but the argument stated by you (and others here) seems to me to have started out as "fat knackers can't do the job". I responded that I did not care how fat people are so long as they can do the job. You now seem to be responding with "fat people look
unmilitary". You have also added a second point that they might be better at their jobs if they were thinner.
For your first point, "looking unmilitary" is a matter of personal opinion. Some skinny people are perfectly capable of looking unmilitary and could remedy this by buying an iron and actually using it, and getting a haircut, but I don't see you haranguing them here. Short people are also at a disadvantantage, and yet you are not exhorting them to grow. Smoking most certainly looks unmilitary (and also has health risks comparable with being grossly overweight), yet you do not extol the virtues of a nicotine-free lifestyle. I can therefore only conclude that the "looking unmilitary" argument you forward is false - a smokescreen, if you like, for the fact that your problem with fat people actually stems from elsewhere.
Also, one person can only look "more miltary" or "less military" than another. There is no absolute scale of "militariness" where you can mark someone out of ten for how military they look - it's subjective. One person may give a particular subject 8 out of 10 for "military look" while another person would give the same subject a mere 6.
Due to the lack of an absolute on the scale of "militariness" someone can only look more or less military than the average military person, so there will always be "less military looking" and "more military looking" people. It's like height - people are only tall or short compared to the average. If the rest of the population was 5ft tall I'd be a giant - it isn't, so I'm not.
Finally, I refute the idea that "looking military" (by whoever's definition) is a reasonable goal in itself. Like I said before, mostly in jest, if the aim of the military was to look smart we'd go to war in DJs. The aim of the military is not to "look military", it is to
be military.
Your second point regarding the ability for people to do their jobs better if they were thinner may well be valid. People could also do their job better if they didn't smoke, were taller, better looking and less ginger (
). I look forward to you campaigning against all these maladies in due course.
On a more serious tack, fitness (which is what I assume you mean by "being thinner" - correct me if I misunderstand here) is also not an absolute - one person can only be more or less fit than another. We can, however, measure fitness in many ways, most of which are relevant to only one type of fitness. The RAF has set a standard it expects people to meet on some of those scales. If people manage to reach that level then who are you to demand more? Meeting that level is part of the job - having a certain BMI is not.
Finally, a genuine well done to you for maintaining your fitness so far, but your health will fail you one day and, from the amount of pride you appear to have in it I suspect that you will be in for quite a fall when that happens.
Politely_amused
being grossly overweight suggests a supreme lack of self discipline.
Well, smoking also suggests (to me) a supreme lack of self-discipline. To some drinking alcohol suggests the same, just as leaving the toilet seat up suggests a supreme lack of self discipline to many women. I am not ranting at smokers and nor is my girlfriend ranting at me about the toilet seat: it's called tolerance (although it's also because my girlfriend is several thousand miles away right now!)
Yes that does not automatically mean individuals are not professional in their duties - but it's not a good first impression.
If your first impression of someone is your lasting impression then you need to look deeper - the problem is with you, not with them.
I've effectively got a casualty straight away if fattie can't keep up with the break contact drills.
As I have said before, E&E is a part of the job - be fit enough to do your job.
I find it genuinely disgusting that people here can argue for the ridiculous notion that being fat is better!
Who said that? Certainly there are times when a little extra lard can be to one's benefit, but I think we've all agreed that fat is not "better". I'm merely arguing that it is not always unacceptable.
A_A
you need to be fit to operate in the worst possible circumstances.
Agreed. So stop smoking, boozing, eating red meat, and sleep 8 hours a night. No? Lifestyle choices, all of which have an impact on your health and all of which can be curbed by self-discipline. When I see you ranting about these things then I might take you a bit more seriously. In case you missed it, we joined the military in order to defend those self-same lifestyle choices: I like the odd tipple and also red meat, and I do not want to pray five times a day or be a part of a dictatorship (hmm...). I defend those choices by being in the military and my lifestyle is acceptable to the military.
The number of people that I would leave in this thread indicates that things have certainly not improved.
Feel free fella. You are certainly not what I need as the albatross around my neck when I'm evading an intelligent and persistent enemy.
Oh, my mistake - you're not even in a position to be able to do so, are you? Enjoy the armchair.