Busting Chops

It's a term I have used for decades. "Busting chops" with someone is giving that person a hard time, often using language that in a different situation might be considered inappropriate. When I was in the Army, we used to engage in this sort of interaction perhaps too much; however, given that most of those close-knit groups of people with whom I had a relationship seemed to enjoy it as well (both senior and junior) I never thought much about whether or not it was the right thing to do. My problem today with this type of behavior is that many of the same people with whom I once "busted chops" while sitting in a bar in Germany after duty hours, or inside some sort of general purpose (GP) tent while on a field exercise, have since gone on to become extremely successful business people. While I, on the other hand, have taken a different route on a somewhat "lower" road. While we each had our given military ranks and assignment positions then, we all were "common" in that we were essentially doing the same thing. So, busting each others chops seemed OK. However, I found myself last week surrounded by many of these same people in St. Louis during the Engineer Regimental Conference…the difference is that they are no longer in the Army and each has gone on to very successful careers in the civilian world. Sharing drinks and lots of war stories in the Hilton hotel in St. Louis, (typically with me doing too much of the talking…a weakness I have had forever) I found myself reverting back to the past when we were in uniform together. In sum, I started "busting chops" in the same manner we leaders of battalions and brigades and our respective senior staff personnel did then. But, me doing this today as a self employed media type, with CEOs and top management people of major engineering companies somehow does not seem right. This has nagged at me since I returned home. So, I decided to let it all hang out here in this post. Maybe it's just me, but busting chops no longer seems to be a good thing, but perhaps I'm being too self critical. Like I said, I talk too much. Write too much too, I guess.