- Time of past OR future Camino
- First one in 2005 from Moissac, France.
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Sorry, but I don't find our treatment of either porters or soldiers very amusing, in any context. When we turn people into beasts of burden with the prospect of permanent damage and little of the care we would display for pack animals, we are at our worst.Thing is - I was doing humour.
Well, I wouldn't say those soldiers in the photo are being mistreated in any way. They are infantry, and in the infantry you carry heavy loads on your back for long distances. That's the way it has always been and always will be. A grunt humps a ruck, and as they would tell us in the Corps...stop your whining (they didn't actually say "whining"), you signed up for this stuff (they didn't actually say "stuff"). Those young men in the photo wouldn't have it any other way, and if they are like grunts everywhere, they work hard and play hard.Sorry, but I don't find our treatment of either porters or soldiers very amusing, in any context. When we turn people into beasts of burden with the prospect of permanent damage and little of the care we would display for pack animals, we are at our worst. It worries me that you are prepared to suggest this is humourous.
So glad you said that bernhugo it has taken a great load off my mind, sorry shoulders!Hi Kanga. I take your point, but at the time the double meaning did not occur to me.
Could have been clever and said that I did , but I didn't.
Well, these boys are payroll, perhaps like pilgrims in the past who walked on behalf of a rich lord or as penance, bit still on payroll, amd do nothing more than train for this work.Doug, I am well aware of how poor they are and also can guess at how many seasons they can do before they break, and also that they get paid by what they carry.
Thing is - I was doing humour.
I could just as easily have posted this photo of Australian soldiers - their kit, with weapons and ammunition is about 65 pounds (and they aren't poor and they don't wear out and they are not abused by the Capitalist tourist society .etc etc)
Re the soldiers pic below - We are wimps!!
View attachment 20142
They don't have a choice on lightening their load, soldiers and porters are bound by a mandatory packing list, or by what they are paid to carry. We Pilgrims have the choice of how much or how little they are willing to carry.
When I was a young soldier you can bet I would have ditched all that useless gear in a heartbeat.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?