Unusual issue popped up at work

[Hansmeister]

A few weeks ago one of my Sergeants came to me with a very unusual problem.

He was kind of the joker of the unit, always able to break up tension with humor and very creative so I saw him as a great asset to the unit and a friend.  He had previously been in the 82nd and I knew he was seeing a psychiatrist for some past issues dealing with deployments (or so I thought).

He was very scared and told me that he suffered from gender identity disorder and has decided to make a drastic change in lifestyle which he could not, nor wanted to, conceal. 

He feels very uncomfortable around other Soldiers and desires to leave qithout creating much fuss.  He is obviously quite reluctant to reveal this part of himself, but felt he could open up to me.  I've kept the whole matter very quiet, confiding only in the commander, and we're trying to get him discharged on a medical without letting anybody know the reason.

I never expected to encounter anything like this and had no idea how i would deal with such an occasion but it went rather well in the end - being catholic helps in that matter.  At the end of our conversation I told him that I learned something about myself today and I want to thank him for making me a better person, at which point he nearly broke down and cried.

Beign a First Sergeant is a hard job.  I've put out two Soldiers for illegal drugs, one for PTSD, one for being mentally unstable, one for being a shitbag, and now one Soldier for wanting to become a woman.  I also had to tell one of my full-timers that he should look for a new line of work more in line with his work ethic, and had to push non-judicial punishment for two Soldiers, one for forging paperwork and one for drunkeness on duty.

[chipwich]

Gender Identity wouldn't be a difficult or "unusual" problem would only happen if your workplace wasn't a demented pit of discrimination and low-class machoismo.

[Eddie Teach]

Boys who think they're girls are unusual anywhere.

[Jacob]

Props to you for dealing with it well, all things considered.

[Martinus]

We have seen it before but it still surprises me whenever it happens: an average Languishite is actually less of a dick in real life than he is on Languish.

[Monoriu]

We have seen it before but it still surprises me whenever it happens: an average Languishite is actually less of a dick in real life than he is on Languish.

Are you implying something about yourself? 

[Josquius]

Its weird how it always seems to be big tough soldier men or truckers who get to 40 and suddenly decide to be a girly girl.
Does. Not. Work.
Science is...incapable.

[Slargos]

Its weird how it always seems to be big tough soldier men or truckers who get to 40 and suddenly decide to be a girly girl.
Does. Not. Work.
Science is...incapable.

Mid life crisis gone horribly, terribly wrong.  

[grumbler]

Gender Identity wouldn't be a difficult or "unusual" problem would only happen if your workplace wasn't a demented pit of discrimination and low-class machoismo.

So you are saying that having men suddenly decide to become girls is easy and usual where you work?

Something tells me this is total bullshit, and the average workplace (where such things are difficult and unusual) isn't a "demented pit of discrimination and low-class machoismo."

[Malthus]

One of my father's collegues at the university underwent a sex change. "He" took hormones, had surgery to implant boobs, started wearing dresses and make-up. This all happened gradually, over months.

Very typically, my father was not told by anyone and did not notice. Also typically, when he was finally told (by my mother), he did not care.

I saw this person, she was invited to a baby function (together with his wife - they had stayed married through this process). She wasn't a convincing woman, to say the least.

[KRonn]

Props to you for dealing with it well, all things considered.

Agreed. Good going on handling this in the best interests of the soldier involved, to prevent undue stress at a time where he was already under much stress as it was.

[ulmont]

We have seen it before but it still surprises me whenever it happens: an average Languishite is actually less of a dick in real life than he is on Languish.

All things considered, I think the odds are astronomically against an average Languishite being *more* of a dick in real life.

[Barrister]

Two people my father knew and worked with in the sportswriting / newspaper business have come out as transgendered.  One in his 40s, the other must've been in his 50s.  The one that I've seen and met afterwards did not make a terrible convincing woman for what little it's worth.  The other one was actually at one time a very good friend of my father.  Hell about 8 - 9 years ago my father and his friend (at the time a man) stayed at my apartment in Calgary while they were covering a sporting event.

My father is a wonderful man - I've never heard him say anything racist or bigoted.  But you know he just couldn't 'handle' the change.  He wants his friend to do whatever is best for him, but he really doesn't know how to react around him, and in effect has really just stopped communicating with him/her.

(I've used male pronouns throughout because I don't know what else to use).

Coming out as transgendered has got to be extremely difficult, no matter where you work.

[Habbaku]

We have seen it before but it still surprises me whenever it happens: an average Languishite is actually less of a dick in real life than he is on Languish.

All things considered, I think the odds are astronomically against an average Languishite being *more* of a dick in real life.

And this is why you should play wargames with me.

[ulmont]

We have seen it before but it still surprises me whenever it happens: an average Languishite is actually less of a dick in real life than he is on Languish.

All things considered, I think the odds are astronomically against an average Languishite being *more* of a dick in real life.

And this is why you should play wargames with me.

You are: The Exception That Proves The Rule?