I did a little research and apparently it's a Navy social media shibboleth to capitalize Sailors when referring to members of the US military, as opposed to mere lowercase-sailors who work as crew on civilian vessels, with their slovenly lack of discipline
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
And yet I'm pretty sure the stereotype Austin Powers is referring to is specifically about the Navy
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Replying to @arthur_affect
oh god they're just as bad as the Marines and I never knew it we airmen never put on such airs
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Replying to @Nymphomachy
Yes the services that originated under the Dept of the Navy vs the ones that started under the the Dept of the Army seem to have very different attitudes Land people and sea people
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
The land people are, so to speak, more down to earth (Even the ones that became sky people)
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
It's a whole cultural thing, living on a ship in this enclosed environment where in order to survive you and everyone around you have to be this one organic unit Getting the sense that you're a different species of human than the landlubbers
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
The whole concept of the "merchant marine" Like, you can't have a regular job on a civilian ship working for a private business without being part of this whole military rank structure that comes with quasi-military discipline (the concept of an officer class etc)
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
And the law says that if the US formally enters a state of war the whole merchant marine automatically gets drafted into the Navy and hey presto you're enlisted in the military now
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
DFW's famous essay about taking a cruise talked about how a cruise ship is this weird hybrid thing There's a very sharp divide between "staff" and "crew", and the crew get really touchy about the distinction
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
The crew are all members of the Greek merchant marine, which is one of the snobbiest merchant marines that traces its heritage back to the ancient Hellenic trading vessels They wear uniforms all the time and salute officers whenever they see them and whatnot
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The *staff*, the waiters and busboys and bellhops and whatnot, are random immigrants from various poor countries whom the crew treat like shit It was very ominously reminiscent of an authoritarian military caste system Citizens and helots
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Nymphomachy
The actual captain of the ship gets the ship to where it's going and the top ranking member of the staff (the "cruise director", some dipshit in a polo shirt) doesn't get to ask questions about it Just like the crew don't give a shit what the guests get up to all day
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