Thread by @JessicaHuseman

I once worked for a 4-star general who made the students at his youth debate camp go to his "leadership museum" that was literally a museum about himself where he displayed a stuff Toby Keith had given him. And also a TV that played the planes crashing into the towers on loop.

He also loved to show a framed version of his high school transcript that showed Cs and Ds to let the students know that college was unnecessary for success, which is probably true but is not necessarily a great message for children attending a camp hosted by a university.

It was across the street from a county museum that had a rock in a case simply labeled "rock" with no context and it was there all five years I worked for this camp. No one knew where it came from or why it was displayed, and it was my favorite thing I've ever seen in a museum.

the last year I worked there before declining to return was in the midst of the housing crisis and they invited a real estate agent from Keller Williams in who called the people who'd lost their home stupid, and talked about how she made her money buying up their properties.

I had - to my horror - brought one of my debate kids from Newark to this camp this year, because it was one of the *few* free debate camps that didn't require scholarship applications. It was just free.

Anyway this thread is pointless but I did this every year from age 19 to 24 because it was a free camp that - on balance - came with good debate instruction even if terrible role models were put on display and sometimes it still amazes me what went on there.

Oh my favorite story: One year the kids were debating fracking and a fracking expert to giave a lecture and one student raised his hand and said "I was assigned the negative on this, can you talk about some reasons why fracking is bad?" and w a straight face the man said "No."

This camp was in the middle of oklahoma and one year the general decided the camp was going to be in Jordan (the country) then abandoned all of the counselors in the Amman airport to get 24 American students through customs even though he said his office would arrange the Visas.

At the same camp the president of the Christian-affiliated university stood in front of a group of Muslim students and asked them if they had a personal savior like Jesus who they confided their troubles in. The man had a PhD.

Alright I swear to god I'm done but it was honestly the weirdest job I have had in my entire life and I once time worked giving out samples at liquor stores all over DFW while wearing boots and a sundress.

Oh and honestly, fuck it. The four star general was Tommy Franks.