Can't Ask Fish..........

3,184 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by GarryowenAg
74OA
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AG
.........what outfit they're in anymore? Is this true? Anyone know what the logic is behind ending such a very harmless and very old practice?
TheDoctor
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AG
Only thing I can think of was that it was discontinued cause it interrupted fish as they were headed to class. When I was a Zip, we were told to ask fish if they were going to class first before we asked them what outfit they were in. It was also common practice to immediately drop with fish / group of fish who had to go to class to make the whip out process quicker for them as they were on the clock to get to class.
74OA
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AG


Not even within the confines of the Quad, either? Do fish ever hump it for their outfit anymore? That's a shame.

I feel as much for upperclassmen who can no longer escape a gang of fish lining up to whip-out by asking what outfit they're in. I can recall us fish "hazing" upperclassmen by lining up en masse behind them to whip out. It can get tiring.

Is there some sort of moratorium on Corps courtesy during game weekends, too? When last there I noticed fish walking past upperclassmen without a howdy, whip out or anything.
TheDoctor
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AG
Zips aren't allowed to ask fish what outfit they are in outside of the Quad. That was a rule even when my sister was a fish in the Corps in 2006. You can still be asked to hump it on the Quad if you're a fish, as long as the fish isn't in the process of doing to class - so usually if the fish wasn't in uniform on the Quad, they were more than likely fair game. Outfit hump its are still done and some outfits choose to do them outside their dorm every morning when they get back from chow - my outfit was doing that all the way through my Zip year in 2013.

The marathon whip outs to UCs are still used by fish to annoy them, it was seen as Good Bull, especially if a UC of your outfit told you all to go whip out to a friend of theirs and boof their time. We were always happy to oblige.

And, yes, there are no Corps games on football weekends, generally. When parents are around, fish are encouraged to relax a bit after the step off / march in activities and fanfare are over.
74OA
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AG
quote:
Zips aren't allowed to ask fish what outfit they are in outside of the Quad. That was a rule even when my sister was a fish in the Corps in 2006. Outfit hump its are still done and some outfits choose to do them outside their dorm every morning when they get back from chow - my outfit was doing that all the way through my Zip year in 2013.

The marathon whip outs to UCs are still used by fish to annoy them, it was seen as Good Bull, especially if a UC of your outfit told you all to go whip out to a friend of theirs and boot their time. We were always happy to oblige.

And, yes, there are no Corps games on football weekends, generally. When parents are around, fish are encouraged to relax a bit after the step off / march in activities and fanfare are over.
So asking what outfit you're in is still on on inside the Quad? When you say no Corps "games" on football weekends, that includes basic courtesies like saying "howdy" and whipping out? Wow.
TheDoctor
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AG
Yes, outfit hump its are still allowed on the Quad as far as I know (i've been dead for 3 years), but the UC has to make sure the fish / group of fish are not in the process of heading to class before they ask to hump it.

On football weekends, I was not required to whip out to UCs, but saying Howdy in passing to my UC was still required, even if my parents accompanied me into the dorm. I did not have to greet on the wall to UCs or run in the hallway on football weekends (except during step off / march in, of course).
74OA
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AG
The fish I noticed weren't with parents, they were just in uniform hoofing it around on game day and ignoring everyone. Don't understand that at all. Things change. Thanks for the update.....
Outlaw0206
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AG
quote:

So asking what outfit you're in is still on on inside the Quad? When you say no Corps "games" on football weekends, that includes basic courtesies like saying "howdy" and whipping out? Wow.

I don't know where you think that saying Howdy & whipping out are corps games, but that's absolutely incorrect.

I believe the point the poster was making is that on game days all the shenanigans the corps does through out the week are off. The corps is on display for thousands of people. Yes some of the "games" are what makes the corps unique, but upperclassmen ripping into fish on the quad before step off is not needed. It's an embarrassment and that's what the "games" started to become.

Fish are still asked what outfit they are from on the quad all the time. It's goodbull!
74OA
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AG
"Games" is a term The Doctor used above when I asked about howdy and whipping out on game days. I just reused it when replying.

I understand completely about toning it down on game weekends and other events when parents and others are around. That was the practice even back when I was a cadet. But saying howdy and whipping out were never set aside, although it was simple good manners to wave off a fish who started to whip out when with his parents or a date. I guess I'm just surprised it's apparently become official policy that fish can essentially ignore UC on game days. It strikes me as overboard, particularly after watching unaccompanied fish do exactly that last season.
Outlaw0206
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AG
I see what you are saying
Rabid Cougar
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Heck , it has always been toned down on game days and as mentioned before, it was just decency to go easy on fish when parents and dates where around. However, as a fish, you had to take advantage if it. You always got that "look" from UCs though.

As an UC, I always enjoyed keeping "score" of the pullouts and what not when parents and dates were around. Momma and Daddy were not going to be around past Sunday morning at the latest. There were ALWAYS 1600 hr come-bys to be had during the week.
corpusfishy
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All that crap needs to be kept on the quad anyways. Whipping out, hump its, fish Spurs etc is the reason the corps gets made fun of.
Goodbull_19
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AG
UC never ask what outfit a fish is in anymore. I saw it done once last year but that's it. My UC never told us about it As for game days, I don't think it's official policy to not whip out, but it's understood by everyone. And UC are still greeted, just no sounding off and fish are often just given rest.
sharpdressedman
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I have clear recollections of p-heads and butts entertaining themselves by dragging fish all over the campus, whether or not the fish were going to class. Being late to class due to this bs was part of my fish year. It did no good to piss on someone's leg about it.
bigtruckguy3500
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quote:
I guess I'm just surprised it's apparently become official policy that fish can essentially ignore UC on game days. It strikes me as overboard, particularly after watching unaccompanied fish do exactly that last season.
I think the problem is more so that upperclassmen don't enforce expectations from fish. I remember when I was a zip walking behind two pissheads, one that new me, the other didn't. They both heard me, and looked back to see who I was, then just kept chatting. So I told the pisshead that didn't know me to peak his cover. He said something about ranger challenge heads don't need to, and just kept walking. So I asked him my name and he finally realized he needed to whip out. At which point I gave him a little talking to about tradition and respect. I don't think anything has become official policy as much as unofficial. And most upperclassmen either don't care or don't want to seen as the uncool/mean UC.

It really takes only 1 year of change, or not enforcing the 4 class privilege system, to completely alter or virtually eliminate traditions.
musicman55
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AG
FWIW, I don't believe fish have been asked their outfit off the Quad in 40 years. My fish year was '73, and outfit asks were limited to the Quad then. I was never asked my outfit outside of the Quad geography.

Now, were they used to harass fish ON the Quad? You bet. Fish became very adept at quickly learning the most direct (and least visible) routes off the Quad so they could get to wherever they were going, like class, in a timely manner. In many cases, the UCs that were doing the asking weren't harrassing the fish... they were harassing each other.

But, I don't think off-the-Quad asking fish their outfit has been around for a long, long time. That sort of stuff has gone the way of noon meal formation, quadding, laundry details, and the Creamery (may it rest in peace).
aggiejim70
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AG
Are you FTAB class of '55? If so, at the risk of hijacking the thread I would be interested to hear your experiences on what it was like to be a fish on Turkey Day in '51 when we outscored t.u. for the 1st time in 12 years.
I was 3 at the time.

You mentioned quadding. Yesterday, I had lunch with the SA A&M Club. Afterwards a class of '17 Corps senior was in a conversation with a number of us and he was commenting on changes in the Quad and the Corps. I told him about the time, as fish, we took our 1st Sergeant to the Quad butt naked on Mother's Day. His eyes got big as saucers. Do that today, it would be all over social media, and everyone from the Chancellor to the janitor would be fired.

I don't usually share stories like that with the current members of the Corps. They can get in enough trouble without re-cycling stuff from 50 years ago.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
DevilD77
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AG
While I was at A&M, most of the time a fish was asked what outfit he was in, it was obvious that he was on his way back to the dorm. Off the Quad, the UC would usually preface his request with "Don't hump it", and then ask what outfit he was in if he just wanted to know, usually because the fish had done something good that deserved recognition or something that needed correction.
JR69
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AG
The easiest way is to just ask the fish who is his First Sergeant or CO. No "hump it" required.
CanyonAg77
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AG
quote:
Are you FTAB class of '55?
He said his fish year was 1973, so I'm guessing 55 is his birth year. And he's class of 77 like me.
aggiejim70
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AG
Yeah, I guess I need to start reading the entire post. My Bad.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
GarryowenAg
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AG
Continued wussification of the corps.

(P.S. I also agree all corps games should be kept on the quad)
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