I am sick of the of the god damn Box factory

[quadriga]

Do you know somebody who does this? Tells the same anecdote over and over and over and over again. Let's say Person X worked at the Box factory and every time Person X is around they have to tell stupid little anecdotes from "when they worked at the Box factory". "At the Box factory we did this..."; "You know, when I was working at the Box factory we had a saying..."; "That would never have work out at the Box factory..."; "That reminds me of when this guy got run over by a forklift at the Box factory..." No matter what I say, me: "I had chicken for dinner last night." Him: "At the Box factory we used to have chicken for dinner all the time." Box factory, Box factory, Box factory!!! I'm fucking sick of the god damn Box factory.

Now substitute "former Sgt. in the U.S. Army" for "Person X" and "Iraq" for "Box factory" and this is what I've had to endure everyday for the past two months. Sorry, listening to stories about civilians getting "waxed" just doesn't make for polite conversation, ever. Wife's son, not mine. He is fucked up. Made a post a while ago about his PTSD. He claims he thinks Iraq is "all about the oil" but still thinks that Iraq is a noble endeavor. He has bought the God & Country line the U.S. Army fed him, hook, line and sinker. He was raised a fundy and still has those leanings. Thinks the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" is fantastic and has some kind of weird connection to it. I think he thinks we are involved in some kind of endtimes Holy War. Uhhhh yeah, like I said, fucked up.

[Sequoia]

1. Well, that was sure entertaining!

You must dread going to work every day. Can you tell the sarge to nix it on the war stories...as in.."Hey, I've got work to do..maybe later dude." Then hopefully "later" never comes..."Oh goodness, my water heater just broke, gotta run." or, better yet..."Oh great! My mom just got raptured so I gotta go pick up the Cadillac in Reseda." (CA)

[quadriga]

2. Actually, he's my wife's son

He's too stubborn to go get help too.

[Th1onein]

3. Thank goodness you came here to vent and didn't vent to him.

He's young, I'm sure, and the time he spent in Iraq is probably the only thing he has, that he considers big enough, to be proud of. Have a little patience. He sounds like an immature young man with low self-esteem. Try helping him to bring that self-esteem up, for better reasons. For instance, take a good look at him and find some things about him that are both positive and true. Then, TELL HIM those things. Not all at once, but over time, and his confidence in himself, as a person, not just as an Iraq war vet, will build.

Poor kid. His social skills could use some work, too. There are inappropriate times (most all of the time, actually) to talk about killing people. Help him. Who else will do it, if you don't? He probably looks up to you, anyway, and might be saying these things to impress you.

Be kind. Even when you don't have to.

[TomInTib]

4. Good points, Th1onein.

I was thinking same while reading the OP.

That kid is not in a good place. And sometimes talking is the only thing that works.

[quadriga]

5. You hit the nail right on the head.

Thank you for your kind words. He knows my stance on the war, we sometimes butt heads. You are right. This experience is all he's got. It's sad.

[Th1onein]

6. It is sad, isn't it?

To me, that's the saddest thing of all--that our young people go off to war, to die, with no life lived. It's horrible that we do this to our children. It's horrible to have a culture that glorifies something like this. It should not be.

Good luck to you, my friend. I know you are trying your best and it's hard, sometimes.