Tag Stories

[alan_li_13]

Hey fellow cadets, i just went for a mandatory tag weekend today, and it wasn‘t much fun.
If you got a good story about selling tags, feel free to share your experiences for us to enjoy, lol.

 

[wongskc]

I was doing that as a sgt for my sqn. It was the beginning of the year so we were recruiting at the same time. But we were doing this right after sept 11. More people came up to us and asked about whether we were 1) taking money for the victims in NY, or 2) asked if we were going overseas.

It was funny, but not a the same time.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

about selling those god-awful tags,

You should be proud to stand in public, in uniform supporting your corps. I always buy two or three when I‘m out on tag day. Seldom do I pass a Cadet without buying one. I always end up with a pocket full and I‘m not ashamed to wear it on my coat. Be thankful you have some recourse to raise money. It allows you to parade and be part of something larger than yourself. You should be ashamed.

Edited to add one of your own quotes from your signature block. (Sorry, attributed this signature block to the wrong user)

Here they held, and thought not of cost.
- WWI Canadian monument in France

Dwell on that for awhile before being so flippant next time

 

[alexk]

yes unfortunatly selling tags is not the funest thing in army cadets but it has to be done personaly i dont mind it because that money is gonna go to somthing fun later in the year. last year my corps went to RMC and watched the grad parade it was great. Some of the more senior ncos think taggin is "gay" and dont go to it, it makes me mad that they are not leading by example. If you dont like it so much just bit your lip and say to yourself it all gets better from now

good luck

 

[Fishbone Jones]

rifle_team_captain_13

I‘m glad you edited your post, point taken I guess. Sometimes it pays to read your own prose before posting. Try doing it outloud to yourself next time. If it sounds stupid, it probably is.

 

[alan_li_13]

I guess i did put a few badly placed words in there, but recceguy, u must understand my point of view. Of course i am darn proud to wear my uniform in public and raise funds to help my cadet corp, but we‘ve had some minor incidents with army haters, especially with Iraq and all that...
For example, one of my cadets (13 yr recruit, so new that he hasnt gotten his uniform yet) was sworn at and yelled at by a full grown man. It was pretty scary and i was about to call my officer.
I love all the well-manored supporters out there, and thank you for ur donation, but its the people on the otherside of the spectrum i am concerned with.
BTW, what did u mean by

Edited to add one of your own quotes from your signature block.


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here they held, and thought not of cost.
- WWI Canadian monument in France
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Excellent observation alex

If you dont like it so much just bit your lip and say to yourself it all gets better from now

Grad Parade at RMC, wow, i want to do that! My corp went to Ottawa last year, and we‘re only going rafting this year.*

 

[alexk]

well how many people are in your coprs 50 sixty mabye, when your corps has 115 people in it on a regular basis then look at the cost of buses food etc. Also it was my corps 60th anaversery and im shure we had to throw some money around there. WOW Ottawa what did you do look at some buildings, ive been to Ottawa before its not that big of a deal. so you going rafting eh gonna throw on a navy suit and sweep the poop deck. listen there Captain i dont wanna hear your rude sarcasim.

O by the way is Hutchison at your coprs he was a qyr DM i did adventure with him

 

[wongskc]

RTC13, I‘m not quite sure you meant in your last post there. What do you want to know about the quote in my signiture block?

 

[dano]

I remember when we did tagging in Sept... To think of it.. all the Tagging events.. Except the my first one of course (That was completely fun, almost broke the record for time tagging, it was fun because it was the first one I did..not the record breaking) Okay anyway, on to my story/comment.

After the first you can‘t help but feel bored and not feeling like you really want to be there. There is always a part of you saying "I‘d rather be doing this or that" Human nature I guess.

In Sept (and living in Brampton) I had a Indian guy (not Native, but Pakistani) come up to me telling me stories of when he was in the Air Force for the British Military (Mind you, he did not look like a western Indian, He had the Turban and robe on) .. It was cool, and really refreshing and pleasing to know that some of the broad portion of the population (South-East Asians, AKA Indian) are not totally oblivious to the western world, its values and its Military.

Our Corp had it organized in shifts that year.. 5 hours a shift... They wanted me to do 3 in a day... I did 2.. I honestly couldent stand still any longer.. The next day I did 2 more. They announced at the Units Christmas dinner who rasied the most.. The top 3 made like $1300-$1000 each.. My jaw droped.. I never knew a individual could make that much in a weekend.

It‘s also good to know (For me atleast) if you‘re Tagging at a Grocery store or a store where individuals the same age as you‘re self work. They are always either
A- Intimiated by you
B- To shy to ask why you are doing this and how.
C- Jealous because they don‘t get a respectable, neat (and in my case) scottish uniform to ware.
D- They wish that they we‘re affiliated with the Army.

But, the best part is when they ask you questions.
For example, what do you do? Have you ever shot a gun? What does this badge mean? What rank is that on you‘re arm? Is it fun? Do they train you to kill? Since you‘re a Army Cadet, do you love living in the wilderness and eating worms for breakfast? *Note* These are actual questions I have been asked by Civis.

I‘ll post some more storys when I think of them..

 

[cdhoult]

I didn‘t go tagging often as a Junior Cadet, but got more into it as a senior cadet. I found that a lot of it was who I was tagging with. I‘d make sure all juniors went with a senior for two reasons:

1. There is some experience there at least.

2. It gives the seniors a chance to bond with juniors (all about getting to know your cadets). Some of them ended up being really good mentors.

I‘d make sure that I was with a junior cadet, and I‘d use the opportunity to do two things:

1. Fundraise for the Corps

2. See how the corps stands in the eyes of a junior cadet. Best way to find out what is good and bad about your corps, is to ASK a junior cadet. They‘re the ones going through the system, and experiencing everything.

Brampton is an alright place to Tag. We were usually outside the City Centre at various enterances, or the Canadian Tired over on Airport. Tagging there was awesome, lots of cash and Canadian Tire Money.

There‘s nothing wrong with entertaining yourself while you tag...I can remember carolling, and having random patrons join in with us.

But as far as interesting questions/statements go:

--> "I‘m not paying you to go to Afghanistan"
--> "I don‘t support George Bush"
--> "I‘ll get you on my way out"...."Oh, no change on me, sorry"
--> "Do you kill people?"
--> "Where is your gun?"

However, I still have one experience that sticks in my mind.

I was an AC (Pte) and we were outside the City Centre, and an Elderly woman was standing near us...we were handing out poppies. And someone walked by us and declined a poppy...she grabbed his arm, pulled his ear to her mouth and said, "How‘d you like it if I blew YOUR head off, sonny?".....we got a very generous donation, lol, as creepy as it was. But hey, it‘s Brampton.

CH

 

[Thompson_JM]

rifle_team_captain_13 Wrote:

"...but we‘ve had some minor incidents with army haters, especially with Iraq and all that...
For example, one of my cadets (13 yr recruit, so new that he hasnt gotten his uniform yet) was sworn at and yelled at by a full grown man. It was pretty scary and i was about to call my officer..."

wow... Id love to catch some fully grown man screaming and swearing at a 13yr old Cadet, If i was in civie dress at the time... Id teach him a lesson or two about respect.... and another on about the effects of pavement on face... geez...

swearing at a kid... no wonder the world is so screwed up with idiots like that roaming around....

 

[GGHG_Cadet]

If you think that is bad then listen to this: Last year while out tagging a man walked up to a 12 year old cadet and started screaming and swearing at him and he made the kid cry over a war that Canada wasn‘t involved in!

I‘ve always done well when tagging always in the top three, my corp is going tagging the first week of May so hopefully we‘ll have nice weather.

You guys get to go to Ottawa? In 2002 my corp went to Barbados, last year we were suppose to go to England to train with a British Infantry unit that our C.O. was RSM of. We didn‘t get to go because they went to Iraq. This year we are going back to Barbados to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Barbadian Cadet Corp.

 

[Caz]

Tagging is important. Unfortunately, some members of the public have very little idea what cadets is.

We always have SNCOs and Officers on hand to take questions, and support the Jr mbrs. Sometimes it just takes a little education.

You if wear enough pride, they can‘t get under your skin.

 

[wongskc]

Has anyone been called Hitler Youth yet? It kinda backfired on the guy that screamed it at me. I just started laughing and couldn‘t stop (I don‘t know why), but it got even better when a security guard grabbed the guy and manhandled him out of the mall.

I don‘t know about these cowards. Give them the choice between confronting an officer or an 18 year old warrant, or a fresh 12 year old recruit, guess who they‘re going to go after?

 

[dano]

"I‘ll get you on my way out"...."Oh, no change on me, sorry"

Its so true.


I remember I was tagging at Zellers and a so called "Para-Military" Gongho Army expert came up to me and starts talking about his time in the Army Cadets.

He asks "Do the NCOs still make you shave you‘re hair on the parade square?" While standing infront of me smoking a cigerette, leaning on his hip, scratching his long hair and in need of a shave.
It was interesting. Him contradicting himself on every sentence.

 

[fleeingjam]

Sorry if I sound stupid but what exactly do you guys mean by tags?

 

[Caz]

Maybe the CF would actually get a budget increase if they did tagging

Usman_Syed, by ‘tags‘ we mean little ‘I support Air/Army/Sea Cadets‘ tags that people can pin on their coat. They are sold by cadet units to raise awareness, and fundraise.

 

[cdhoult]

I personally have never been accused of being Hitler Youth, but my first Coxswain was...

They asked her if she was part of the Hitler Youth, if it was true that they really killed babies...

I mean, I‘m not sure I‘d even know how to respond to that....especially if the people are seriously asking the questions. I‘d probably be tempted to be like, "Yes, we do. How many children do you have? They should drop on by" but I imagine that wouldn‘t be the greatest for PR, lol

CH

 

[Thompson_JM]

not necisaraly sick... just increadably Stupid...

 

[alan_li_13]

Ummm...Alex, i wasn‘t being sarcastic, i actually want to go to RMC. And yeah, i do know Hutch. Actually, he was somewhere around when it happened.

This year we are going back to Barbados to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Barbadian Cadet Corp.

I‘m not sure if u know this, Martin, but my corp (337 Queen‘s York Rangers) is suppose to send a handful of cadets along with u guys. Maybe if i dont do D&C at Blackdown, i‘ll go to Barbados

As for the Hitler Youth thing, i‘ve never came across that, but we do get plenty of people thinking we‘re going of to fight in Iraq.