Stuffed green bell peppers

[Bill Palmer]

In 1974 or so, the Navy combined the rating "Commissaryman" and "Steward"
(the ones who prepared food in the officers' mess and also maintained
staterooms) and created the new rating of "Mess Management Specialist".
These folks could be assigned either wardroom duties, or in the general mess
(now known as "enlisted dining facility").

There was a counter-racism component in this change, as the Stewards were
exclusively Black or Filipino, and were more or less regarded as servants.

Bill Palmer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 10:32 PM
Subject: Stuffed green bell peppers


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Stuffed green bell peppers
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My brother checked with a friend who's a former "commissaryman," as
> the Navy officially calls cooks. Said buddy recalls "shit in a seabag"
> from 1972, the year that he entered commissary school.
>
> So,
>
> a) Brother got out of Navy in '67. Unfamiliar with this slang term.
>
> b) Brother's friend joined in '72. The term was being used.
>
> -Wilson
> ---
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"--a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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