Selling Service

When the bus finally came this morning, the first thing I noticed was the ad on the side. It said something like "Real life isn't video games," over an image of military life.

It made me think; this wasn't the first time I'd seen a military recruitment ad targeted to parents. In fact, I think I see those more often then I see ads targeted to young people. Most of the time, they get us with four words: "We'll pay for college." The thought of free college is enough to get us to consider military service. It's our parents they need to convince. Military service is dangerous. There are two wars. Their children could die. And so the government spends money convincing their parents that joining the military is safe, devoting sections of their sites to it. Goarmy.com even translates this site into Spanish. The military is recruiting your parents as much as they are you. But why? Ultimately, with the exception of a few 17 year olds, you don't need parental permission to join the armed forces. Why bother convincing them of the merits?

This is just a thought, but maybe I'm not the only young adult noticing the parent ads. These ads, claiming to reassure parents, are actually reassuring the doubt after the "We will pay for college" ads leave. This is a warm, cuddly armed forces, one that reassures your parents.

Or maybe I'm wrong. I'm clearly not a target for recruitment. Since turning 18, I've listened to my friends' stories of trying to get off the phone with military recruiters but never gotten a call of my own. I'm almost disappointed; I don't want to join the military (as appealing as the free college is) but I don't want them not to want me. The ads are getting to me; they make military service almost look fun. I don't want to join, but I want them to want me to join. It doesn't make much sense, but then, the happy, peacetime soldiers in the ads don't, either.

My other favorite way I've seen the military try to recruit is through a National Guard program called "Active First." You sign up with the National Guard and immediately after basic training, you ship out for active duty. "You'll make hazard pay! You won't have to worry about when you'll be called for active duty! You can make $60,000! (if you remain active duty for 4 years)" And, of course, after you get home, most likely from Iraq, Uncle Sam will pay for college.

I almost wish we'd go back to the simple Uncle Sam ads. "I want YOU for U.S. Army." It's simple. It's upfront. There are no promises of college, no sugar coating the work. He just wants YOU for the army. He's kind of imposing, with the stern look and pointed finger. He almost makes you feel guilty that you haven't joined yet.

But he's not tripping over himself to offer to pay my tuition.

Electioneering or Fashion?

So, after being invited to at least 5 different groups on facebook, warning me not to wear any Obama buttons or shirts to the polls on November 4^th, I wasn't at all surprised to read this article in Politico. And at the very least, I'm glad to see that some people are making an effort to clear up whether campaign items can or cannot be worn. And I'm sure that campaign shirts and buttons are a violation of electioneering rules. I'm not sure I agree with the electioneering law, though.

I'd like to believe that people are not so easily convinced of who to vote for just because someone is campaigning within a certain number of feet of the polling place. I really want to believe that everyone spends as much time as I do, thinking about the issues and choosing which candidate to vote for. I know that if there is someone on line in front of me wearing a McCain shirt, my vote won't be changed. And as it is, I've seen people campaigning right outside of the bounds. It's really just an arbitrary line.

On the other hand, being able to wear a shirt supporting my candidate on Election Day is just not that important to me. Maybe I should feel like my freedom of expression is being abridged, but it's just not all that much of a hardship to take a button off a bag or put a jacket over a shirt. This year is my first election, and I'm thrilled that it's looking like it's going to be such a historic one. What I wear when I go to place my vote doesn't matter.

Maybe I'm just saying that be a New Yorker. Because when you look at me, it's pretty obvious who I'm going to vote for; I'm young and live in a liberal city. Most of the people around me who care about politics are Barack Obama supporters. If I lived somewhere where I was the only one, I'm pretty sure I'd want everyone to see that I was voting for Obama.

Maybe in places like that, someone oughta hand out "I just voted for Obama!" buttons just outside the boundaries. The visibility couldn't hurt, and you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not you'll be allowed to vote.