Connor Stalions' Antics Are Hurting Veterans Everywhere

This Connor Stalions story gets weirder by the day and at this rate there doesn't seem to be a sign of stopping. Some folks are praising his actions while others want to string him up by his maize and blue shoelaces. One group that has remained silent to my knowledge is the group that he is quietly impacting the most - Veterans. 

We are so deep down the rabbit hole with this dude now that we are beyond the introductory paragraphs in each article about who he is; most of us remember that he is a graduate of that boat school in Annapolis and a Marine officer. Some of you undoubtedly have thought to yourself, "but Cons, he went to [school name redacted] and then was a Marine. I thought they were supposed to be honest and trustworthy?" One would think but every so often a bad egg slips through the cracks. There is a rigorous process just to get into that school and despite it being a low level institution, it's still harder than the average college to get through it and graduate.

But maybe that's when his dishonest ways began. Maybe he started skating the rules just to survive through school and then in the Marines. Just like any institution, the military has some bad secrets that we'd rather not share but I'll be the bigger person and let you in on one secret - the military has some shady characters. 

This is all too common of a story in the military across every branch. 

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Unfortunately, the military doesn't always pay too well so folks sometimes resort to nefarious means to earn extra cash. There is always the person who tells you they have a real estate investment "company" that can 5x your money or a completely not illegal way to sell military equipment. That's what we have here with Stalions' vacuum endeavor. Low level staffers, even at mighty Michigan, don't get paid well at all. I'm not keen on the cost of living in Ann Arbor but clearly his salary of $55K per year wasn't enough to keep him in diamonds and furs. (Quick sidenote, this guy must truly love Michigan football because the median starting salary for graduates of his school is $77,100 and for mid-career professionals it’s $131,000. Money isn't everything but sheesh he's leaving some coin on the table.)

So how does all of this affect Veterans? Veterans have a reputation attached to that descriptor. In many and even most ways, it is a great thing. But there are some negatives. Some people think we have tons of problems and might scream at any moment. While we are not without our flaws, we largely are productive members of society and some of us even give back in a myriad of ways such as producing nearly 600 episodes of a podcast. With every negative detail that comes out about this guy, he is hurting fellow Veterans who fight against any negative perceptions about us as a whole. Some of us want to enjoy the upcoming Veterans Day and eat our free meal at Applebee's in peace without being hounded with questions about the vacuum selling Veteran from Michigan. Speaking of, pick a better product to sell. What's the margin on a used vacuum? Ten bucks at most? No shot those things are easy to ship either. So on top of getting caught as a sign stealer he is a crummy businessman. 

For the good of the Veteran community, I implore Stalions to admit his wrongdoing and serve whatever punishment levied against him. Also for the love of Christ, stop selling vacuums.

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