ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR REMINDER FROM VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MAILER

As a veteran of the President Gerald Ford Army of 1974-76, I feel I know what acceptable behavior is without a reminder from the Veteran’s Administration in 2026.

I knew the program way before joining the Army.

Where did I gain such valuable information? The Boy Scouts.

This all rings true from Acceptable Behaviors listed on the mailer:

Honoring differences.

Being kind and courteous.

Respecting others.

 

You don’t rise in the Boy Scout ranks until the Scout Law gets drilled in to the point of lifelong memory:

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Keep those thoughts in mind when you find yourself in uncomfortable situations not of your making.

What is such a situation?

Someone is mocking, stalking, and bullying.

Add in cat calls, objectifying others, and crude gestures.

Not to forget unwelcome comments and advances, touching, and groping.

From the VA mailer:

There is no ‘in-between’ behavior. Behavior is either acceptable or it is not.

 

But Wait, There’s More

Prevention starts with you. By actively speaking out against harmful behavior, promoting respect in our interactions, we contribute to creating a culture of safety and dignity for all.

 

Our man at the top of the VA, Douglas A. Collins, stands with his boss on all of the important topics needed to rise in the administration.

Is he an active bystander? Does he speak up for others? Is he reporting harassment?

The man was confirmed for the job by a 77-23 vote in the Senate.

Is he a rubber stamp on anything that comes down to him from the top, or a strong advocate for veterans at the bottom?

If he doesn’t pledge his loyalty to his boss, would he have the job?

The mailer includes:

“There is no wrong door to report. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault while using VA services, please report it.”

How does this match up with:

CNN spoke with more than a dozen current and former female staffers who say they’ve faced harassment from House members or senior congressional staff, nearly all of whom chose not to report the incidents and still fear publicly naming their harassers.

They often felt discouraged about making a complaint, fearful they would get blacklisted from future jobs in Congress and that their anonymity could not be protected.

Are any of them veterans? Could Secretary Of Veterans Affairs Douglas A. Collins offer his support?

Maybe take it up with his boss?

 

Positive Outcomes In Two Weeks?

How do younger generations look at today’s leadership on the national level?

I don’t spend much time on it unless I get slapped, and the VA mailer was just that.

Thank you, Secretary Collins.

Will the current era be remembered as cranky old men kowtowing to a creepy old man, as men of the people kissing up to an aging, tired, guy to keep their careers moving ahead?

I remember when I was in junior high and high school seeing Life covers like this and wondering what it meant.

Generation Gap? Nixon? Vietnam War?

Since I knew no better, it was normal. Normalized.

What feels normalized now is different.

While I read and breakdown data for blog posts, I don’t look for validation on social media.

I don’t ask myself if what I read is from AI, or bots, or some kid with an internet connection starting their own career by stirring the shit pot.

What I’m also not asking for is an information flyer signed by a career politician/senior pastor/scrapbook store owner/and current VA head.

Sir, if you are a serious man with the best intentions for those under your guidance you would schedule an appointment with your boss and encourage him to comply with the duties of his office, to clean up his act, and be the face of America the beautiful, not an America he sees through his friends, his business interests, and his kids.

Instead, we get skeevy people doing sketchy things in the shadows, and sending out high-minded flyers and mailers against the skeevy and the sketchy beginning with, ‘Dear Veteran or Beneficiary.’

When I hear skeevy people dealing in speech and print I wonder who their audience is because it’s not me.

Who is their audience?

 

PS:

The OED says the word skeevy comes from an earlier adjective dating from the 1970s, “skeevy” (disgusting, distasteful, dirty, sleazy).

The American slang version may have originated in Philadelphia.

The OED‘s first citation for “skeevy” is from Philadelphia Magazine in March 1976: “The word ‘skeevie’ used by South Philadelphians to indicate something disgusting is from Italian ‘schifare,’ to loathe.”

 

PSS:

I lived in Philadelphia in the mid-70’s when I first heard the word skeevy. I was an Army medic driving the ambulance at the Defense Personnel Support Center on Oregon Avenue.

Oregon has never been far from me no matter where I go. Neither has the skeevy behavior from people who ought to know better.

I get reminders now and then, like a flyer from a man who knows he ought to confront the big skeeve, but won’t due to a career decision.

Do it for the troops. Rip off the band aid.