firefighting

"shit hitting the fence" is probably the phrase i have heard the most in camp. my co likes it, and by extension his bootlickers like it. and anything with favored scatological references, like those making references to the genitalia or sexual acts with parents, will be very popular and definitely well propagated in this uncultured and virtually uncivilised society. in the first place, "shit hitting the fence" is a completely unlikely hyperbole. and both "shit" and "fence" can be substituted by almost anything to produce the same effect, as long as "fence" is replaced by a container or enclosure. lets say "rainwater overflowing from shellscrape", or better,"Semen spilling out of a condom". how apt. how soldierlike. when inspired by ong bak 3, one can also use "menstrual blood soaking through skirt".

of late there is a new imagery that has become popular. maybe it is civildefence envy. but the imagery has much to do with firefighters and red firetrucks and the like. instead of "solving/settling the problem", or "troubleshooting", favored by the IT unsavvy who try to act savvy,it has now become "fighting fire". the actor is the firefighter, the problem (basically his work) is the destructive maelstrom and the solution is the fire extinguisher. or the firehose. or the firetruck. whatever.

i appreciate this imagery a lot more than the puerile shit one. at least it wasnt intended to be funny because of a scatological reference. but it still gets on my nerves when it is overused. and my colleague likes to use it a lot. and he thinks that he is oh so incredibly important to the camp because he is the one doing the firefighting.

i was feeling irate because i was running late for physio, so i told him and everyone present that once in a while big fires can be good. when whatever we have built up now burns to rubble then we can rebuild from scratch without baggage. and that we should not be afraid that our possessions get burnt as long as we keep ourselves alive. just like the athenians who retreated onto an island to draw the persians to a waterfight. they defeated the persians but not before the persians burnt most of athens down. but had athens not burnt down the parthenon and the acropolis might not have been built.

and someone decided to pass this along to the co.