Hazing - I never did it and wouldn't tolerate it. I don't mind a good joke at my expense, heck I can laugh at myself and probably agree that whatever they are messing with me about is probably true.

Played YMCA - HS (football and basketball) - there were some guys that the Sr's would mess with (honestly, I think it made them feel like they are a part of the group), but with the exception of swimming in a drainage ditch after practice (one time), I was never messed with.

I wasn't necessarily a tough guy - but I had a couple of very strict rules, don't touch me and don't threaten me. I have pretty much lived by those rules my entire life.

Hard timing the new guy is fine, this queer crap has no place on a job. No man thinks this gay crap makes someone tuff. I have no tolerance for it. And picking on people who ain't right, isn't right. I would have taken up for you cnc!

So, where does joking and pranking cross over into hazing? I am legitimately curious.

I have been told that some of the offshore guys have been known to tell a newby to go fetch a bucket of "A I R". Obviously the new guy will be unable to find it and then ask someone else who then laughs and tells them they have been pranked. That kind of thing I don't see much harm in other than the person realizing how gullible he was.

But that stuff with that Fire Dept. is way over the line.

We had a bunch of guys in maintenance and I never understood why but they would go around hitting co workers in the cod-sack and they just thought it was funny. One guy told them he didn’t play that game well they tried him one day and we had to beg him to release him from the choke hold he had on the prankster before he killed him, dude was seriously running out of air but they never tried him again

Harming a body, mind games, name calling ,costing you money breaking something will not be tolerated. The pranks?????? like getting a guy to go to the office for his free lunch box they forgot to give him or get a set of skyhooks from the warehouse is all fun. But still hurt feeling embarrassing get involved and the HR department has to say dont do it. Law suits and such has stopped a lot of it. Colledge kids and Frats used to be bad now they can’t or don’t.

I fish and hunt with a guy who retired from Goodyear in the late 90's. He told the same, but never mentioned a woman. He said if a group was holding one down, you better get involved or you would be next. He has a ton of stories of pranks, but the pickin sounds like it was more of a way of getting back at the folks that caused others more work or trouble with management.

Teammates help each other get better not tear each other down. It always seemed the closeted hommos were the ring leaders of that crap. Like others I keep my paws to myself and others do better when they do the same with me and mine. Some people need a big group to feel safe. Some think they are safe all by themselves.

If it's a "necessary thing" in the military/LEO world, it's being instigated by the "old heads" who are invested in instilling the long term culture and values of the organization, and not by the young, dumb assholes who've been there a year or 3 and still think they have something to prove, right? Right??
I would venture a guess that it's no different than the college fraternity world. The sophomores, who were picked on last year, do all the hazing. The juniors hold the offices and od the work. The seniors are a little old for all this stuff, and just go to the parties.

Cuz……. my “boys” growing up were mostly older cousins who were some of Sand Mountain’s finest trailer plant roofers and house framers……I think I can handle myself…….The hazing as a 9th grader was because I was the only freshman traveling and playing with the varsity…..Some of the seniors took it too far though and it was just something constantly……….I ended up pissing in their helmets. Looking back on it now though if I had it to do over again I should have picked up something and cracked one of them in the side of the head with it…….

I think you missed something.

Like I was saying......