joining the military even if im not patriotic...?
i need a change in my life, a huge one.
growing up, i was always allowed to do whatever the hell i wanted whenever the hell i wanted. ...given, im not sure what my (or any) parents would have done to keep me in line (i never really did anything BAD), i was still never disciplined at all.
i took school as a joke, was kicked out of several high schools for not attending class (even tho my grades were fine), and mouthing off to administrators about it. i got in an ASSLOAD of trouble once for refusing to say the pledge or even look at the flag.
...but what was 'trouble,' really? detention that i never went to, or extra homework that i never did.
my parents attempted to ground me a couple of times, but short o actually guarding my room and holding the door shut, there wasnt much they could do to stop me from leaving the house and visiting my friends.
i never really got a taste of authority untill i got arrested for the first time, and even then i didnt learn my lesson. the second time i got arrested, jail kicked my ass. the hole really sucks. i learned to moderate my behavior a bit.
anyway, that was a bit of a tangent. my point in all that was that ive never really known discipline, and at 20, this makes holding a job and attending college (not to mention STUDYING) very, very difficult.
so, i was brainstorming on ways out of this hole i seem to have drifted into, and the military popped up as a fairly decent sounding idea.
i know it would most certainly not be pleasant, but i feel like i might benefit from the rigid structure of military life, specifically the navy, due to the fact that iraq (and iran) is land-locked.
now my main problem with this idea is that i am not the slightest bit patriotic. i couldnt give less of a shit about any country--the idea of countries even existing seems rather stupid to me, because its really just lines drawn in the sand with the sole purpose of dividing people.
id like to hear from some people whove spent time in the military-- was it worth it? would it be worth it for someone like me, who would be joining for the benefits the military provides, rather than to be a part of some greater cause? (i dont even support what the US military is doing right now at all)
might i be better off joining a different organization such as the peace core, or the red cross?