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 hotsauceman1 wrote:

 redleger wrote:
Honestly, we are not the same. Im sorry if that hurts your feelings. Im not saying we deserve more or less, but we are not the same.

Ok, let me ask you this, Why, why is your group different? and why does that make your occupation different from people who have a different occupation? I want to know what makes veterans so special as to be above criticizing?

Please go back up as I was typing out more and you didn't get it all.

Also never said special. Never said abuse either as you mentioned in your earlier posts. Please don't fill in words where there were none.

 redleger wrote:
Also, criticizing the business is one thing, saying why one earth would anyone give a parking spot to a veteran is definitely not criticizing the business, its saying something about anyone who would use that spot.

No it isn't. It's asking why Veterans stand out enough to merit a parking space but, for example, paramedics or firefighters don't. For the disabled or pregnant there's a physical reason why it might be a good idea to have the parking spaces closest to a business; for Veterans, notsomuch.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:

 redleger wrote:
Also, criticizing the business is one thing, saying why one earth would anyone give a parking spot to a veteran is definitely not criticizing the business, its saying something about anyone who would use that spot.

No it isn't. It's asking why Veterans stand out enough to merit a parking space but, for example, paramedics or firefighters don't. For the disabled or pregnant there's a physical reason why it might be a good idea to have the parking spaces closest to a business; for Veterans, notsomuch.

That's largely what I was thinking. If the aim is to make it easier to elderly/injured veterans, wouldn't they also qualify as disabled?

How do you define a veteran anyway? Does serving a single tour and leaving entitle you to a priority parking space? What about passing basic training?

Herzlos wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:

 redleger wrote:
Also, criticizing the business is one thing, saying why one earth would anyone give a parking spot to a veteran is definitely not criticizing the business, its saying something about anyone who would use that spot.

No it isn't. It's asking why Veterans stand out enough to merit a parking space but, for example, paramedics or firefighters don't. For the disabled or pregnant there's a physical reason why it might be a good idea to have the parking spaces closest to a business; for Veterans, notsomuch.

That's largely what I was thinking. If the aim is to make it easier to elderly/injured veterans, wouldn't they also qualify as disabled?

How do you define a veteran anyway? Does serving a single tour and leaving entitle you to a priority parking space? What about passing basic training?

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

 Breotan wrote:

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

That's what I thought. So what's the aim behind the preferential spaces? Just a "thanks" for signing up? As above, why don't firefighters/paramedics/police get the same treatment? In the UK, lots of places used to give discounts to emergency services staff.

Herzlos wrote:

 Breotan wrote:

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

That's what I thought. So what's the aim behind the preferential spaces? Just a "thanks" for signing up? As above, why don't firefighters/paramedics/police get the same treatment? In the UK, lots of places used to give discounts to emergency services staff.

Been explained a few times in this thread. A business owner has decided to offer the spaces. You would have to ask him/her why thy don't offer it for firefighters/paramedics/police. They offer it for any of many reasons, including they think it is good for their business to be seen as 'veteran friendly' and/or maybe they have personal ties to the military and enjoy doing this. Who cares what their motivation is? It is a private business and they can do what they want. Potential customers upset that what ever group they identify as part of not getting a special space can drive on to this place's competitor. Too easy.

Herzlos wrote:

 Breotan wrote:

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

That's what I thought. So what's the aim behind the preferential spaces? Just a "thanks" for signing up? As above, why don't firefighters/paramedics/police get the same treatment? In the UK, lots of places used to give discounts to emergency services staff.

This country has been in some state of war or another since 2001. The preferential spaces are just a way of saying thanks for those who served our country. As to why EMS don't get the same treatment, look and you'll find that many stores do offer special benefits to EMS, even if it isn't parking. Others don't. There's no policy or tradition around EMS this so it's up to individual shop owners to make their own decisions. There's no right or wrong here, it's just the way it is.

Herzlos wrote:
That's largely what I was thinking. If the aim is to make it easier to elderly/injured veterans, wouldn't they also qualify as disabled?

Not necessarily. For instance, I am considered a "disabled vet" because of my arthritis and other things, but I am not disabled (as in, having a blue/red parking placard).



As to why other jobs aren't given the same treatment, I've seen a number of businesses that DO offer the same treatment. I haven't compiled a list or anything, but I've seen a number of businesses with signs reading to the effect of getting a discount for being military/veteran, police, fire, EMT, or teachers. A gun shop back in Tennessee's sign read "public servant" (which talking to the guy at the counter was ALL public service jobs, apparently including postal workers)

 CptJake wrote:

Herzlos wrote:

 Breotan wrote:

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

That's what I thought. So what's the aim behind the preferential spaces? Just a "thanks" for signing up? As above, why don't firefighters/paramedics/police get the same treatment? In the UK, lots of places used to give discounts to emergency services staff.

Been explained a few times in this thread. A business owner has decided to offer the spaces. You would have to ask him/her why thy don't offer it for firefighters/paramedics/police. They offer it for any of many reasons, including they think it is good for their business to be seen as 'veteran friendly' and/or maybe they have personal ties to the military and enjoy doing this. Who cares what their motivation is? It is a private business and they can do what they want. Potential customers upset that what ever group they identify as part of not getting a special space can drive on to this place's competitor. Too easy.

Its like they can't seem to understand this was something the owner decided to do, and its his perogative. This has totally spun out of control. Why is no one mad about someone being a DB and leaving a hateful note on this womans car. No, the big question is, why did the owner make a parking space for veterans.

I mean lets be real. the parking space isn't the issue. Its the behavior of the person doing this. We can talk about the merit of social media to get the point across and shame this person, whether its ok or not. We can talk about, as we did early on, why this note was stupid, or whether this person had a justified reason to leave that note. I am not sure why we keep changing the subject to something that literally has no bearing on the conversation.

When I had my first job at a diner/ice cream shop, we wouldn't take money from anyone in a uniform. Cops, military, paramedic, didn't matter. The postie would get a free coffee every day as he did his rounds.

There was no sign to this effect, it was just something we did. This one old cop would try to pay for his coffee every time, and I saw him once week or so. It became like a bit between us.

 feeder wrote:
When I had my first job at a diner/ice cream shop, we wouldn't take money from anyone in a uniform. Cops, military, paramedic, didn't matter. The postie would get a free coffee every day as he did his rounds.

There was no sign to this effect, it was just something we did. This one old cop would try to pay for his coffee every time, and I saw him once week or so. It became like a bit between us.

We had one of the local Subways give us (Volunteer Fire Department) free food if we were in uniform (which most of the time consisted of our station pants and t-shirt). It wasn't posted anywhere in the store, but we and the staff all knew that this was the policy at that store. And that was the reason many of us went there during lunch and none of us would deny it .

But all of us always ordered our food and walked up to the register with our wallet in hand. I was shift-leader for the guys on my duty-night, and I made sure that all my rookies knew what I expected of them if we went for dinner at that store, and what my general expectation was for their behavior at any establishment (and the same lesson was given by all other shift-leaders as well as all our officers):

- NEVER expect a discount: always be prepared to pay full price for your meal.
- NEVER ask if they have a firefighter discount: if they have one, they will be the ones to decide to offer it to you.
- If you know that a place has a discount and they forgot to give it to you, NEVER ask why you didn't get it: pay full price and shut up.
- ALWAYS offer to pay and say thank you when they don't let you: It doesn't matter if it's the same person that has given you the discount every day for the past 6 months. Don't ever take it for granted, we didn't volunteer for the cool t-shirt and the half-priced coffee or free Subway sandwich. We give back to our community, and the community thanks us. When the community gives back to us, we thank them.

If anyone violated the rules, they would quickly learn the error of their ways.

 d-usa wrote:

 feeder wrote:
When I had my first job at a diner/ice cream shop, we wouldn't take money from anyone in a uniform. Cops, military, paramedic, didn't matter. The postie would get a free coffee every day as he did his rounds.

There was no sign to this effect, it was just something we did. This one old cop would try to pay for his coffee every time, and I saw him once week or so. It became like a bit between us.

We had one of the local Subways give us (Volunteer Fire Department) free food if we were in uniform (which most of the time consisted of our station pants and t-shirt). It wasn't posted anywhere in the store, but we and the staff all knew that this was the policy at that store. And that was the reason many of us went there during lunch and none of us would deny it .

But all of us always ordered our food and walked up to the register with our wallet in hand. I was shift-leader for the guys on my duty-night, and I made sure that all my rookies knew what I expected of them if we went for dinner at that store, and what my general expectation was for their behavior at any establishment (and the same lesson was given by all other shift-leaders as well as all our officers):

- NEVER expect a discount: always be prepared to pay full price for your meal.
- NEVER ask if they have a firefighter discount: if they have one, they will be the ones to decide to offer it to you.
- If you know that a place has a discount and they forgot to give it to you, NEVER ask why you didn't get it: pay full price and shut up.
- ALWAYS offer to pay and say thank you when they don't let you: It doesn't matter if it's the same person that has given you the discount every day for the past 6 months. Don't ever take it for granted, we didn't volunteer for the cool t-shirt and the half-priced coffee or free Subway sandwich. We give back to our community, and the community thanks us. When the community gives back to us, we thank them.

If anyone violated the rules, they would quickly learn the error of their ways.

I like it. similar to what I tell young Soldiers about military discounts. No one does it for the discount, but show appreciation if you get it.

About a month ago I had to fly into the USA with an adjoining flight.
I thought it was interesting that early check-in and boarding was given to any active or veteran passengers.
I have never heard of this practice either, but I think this is a really good thing to do.

Too bad we were not able to test this scenario out: What looked to be an African/American female in fatigues with two monster duffle bags (4' long?) was checking in on our plane.
It would have been interesting to see what happened if that person was in civilian clothes.
As a side note, I think a civilian pulling any BS with military personnel is just looking for being verbally lit on fire.

 Breotan wrote:
This country has been in some state of war or another since 2001.

I think you mean a state of conflict, since the USA has not declared war on anyone (other than figuratively) for quite some time (1941 in fact).

I get NHS discount in some stores/places, but generally you have to know about it and ask for it (as well as show your NHS ID). Hence I rarely use it

Herzlos wrote:

 Breotan wrote:

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

That's what I thought. So what's the aim behind the preferential spaces? Just a "thanks" for signing up? As above, why don't firefighters/paramedics/police get the same treatment? In the UK, lots of places used to give discounts to emergency services staff.

It's more then just "thanks for signing up". It's "Thanks for making the decision to alter your life in such a manner that you are willing to be sent at a moments notice to your death. That you are willing to allow the government to affect the way you think. That you are agreeing to be sent to live in some of the most horrible places in the world, whether or not you want to. Thanks for putting your life on hold, be it for 4 years, or 40. Thanks for the physical injuries that you will sustain because the levels of body usage are incredibly higher then you will encounter in the civilian world. Thank you for all the times you've had to make that lonely walk towards the airplane, as your children are crying for you to come back."

It's kind of along those lines.

 Talizvar wrote:
About a month ago I had to fly into the USA with an adjoining flight.
I thought it was interesting that early check-in and boarding was given to any active or veteran passengers.
I have never heard of this practice either, but I think this is a really good thing to do.

Too bad we were not able to test this scenario out: What looked to be an African/American female in fatigues with two monster duffle bags (4' long?) was checking in on our plane.
It would have been interesting to see what happened if that person was in civilian clothes.
As a side note, I think a civilian pulling any BS with military personnel is just looking for being verbally lit on fire.

A lot of these people are probably traveling on "official orders", which means they have to wear the uniform of the day, and also get to carry more luggage because they are on active duty travel.

There are few times you are authorized to travel in uniform. Official duty which in most cases is going from Basic Combat Training to Advanced Individual Training. This is if you see individuals traveling.

Another is unit movements from point A to point B, and that will be on a charter.

most common in that last 15 years is R and R leave from a forward area to home. Civilian clothes are not brought into forward areas therefore, traveling in uniform is usually authorized.

Lets see the outrage on letting uniformed personnel board first, since we feel the need to question motives.

 d-usa wrote:

 Talizvar wrote:
About a month ago I had to fly into the USA with an adjoining flight.
I thought it was interesting that early check-in and boarding was given to any active or veteran passengers.
I have never heard of this practice either, but I think this is a really good thing to do.

Too bad we were not able to test this scenario out: What looked to be an African/American female in fatigues with two monster duffle bags (4' long?) was checking in on our plane.
It would have been interesting to see what happened if that person was in civilian clothes.
As a side note, I think a civilian pulling any BS with military personnel is just looking for being verbally lit on fire.

A lot of these people are probably traveling on "official orders", which means they have to wear the uniform of the day, and also get to carry more luggage because they are on active duty travel.

Only time I've traveled in uniform on official orders is if I was deploying. It's generally suggest not to. Keeps you from being a target.

 CptJake wrote:

Herzlos wrote:

 Breotan wrote:

In the USA, a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Length of service, manner of discharge, nor combat experience are qualifiers.

That's what I thought. So what's the aim behind the preferential spaces? Just a "thanks" for signing up? As above, why don't firefighters/paramedics/police get the same treatment? In the UK, lots of places used to give discounts to emergency services staff.

Been explained a few times in this thread. A business owner has decided to offer the spaces. You would have to ask him/her why thy don't offer it for firefighters/paramedics/police. They offer it for any of many reasons, including they think it is good for their business to be seen as 'veteran friendly' and/or maybe they have personal ties to the military and enjoy doing this. Who cares what their motivation is? It is a private business and they can do what they want. Potential customers upset that what ever group they identify as part of not getting a special space can drive on to this place's competitor. Too easy.

No point in trying to explain the facts behind situation. It seems many in this thread have already forged their own narrative.

 Talizvar wrote:
About a month ago I had to fly into the USA with an adjoining flight.
I thought it was interesting that early check-in and boarding was given to any active or veteran passengers.
I have never heard of this practice either, but I think this is a really good thing to do.

I fly weekly, and this is something that I have noticed a few years ago with United Airlines. It is every flight, now. They first ask for people that need assistance or additional time (wheel chairs and such), then people with small children (2 or under) and then Active Military before proceeding with Global Services and first class.

I like that they do it, and perhaps they do this in part for the large duffel bags they tend to carry or just out of respect. Dunno. I rarely see it taken up, but then, I suppose that Chicago to Pittsburgh is not a typical military journey.

If I ever run a business with parking spaces I'm gonna have "Happy People Only Parking, Grumpy People's Cars Will Be Towed"

Then, anytime someone parks in that spot I'm gonna call the tow company to come get it. When the owner complains I'm gonna look them in the eye and say, "See, you're grumpy!"

Ought to be good for a few laughs.

I do get annoyed with the kids though. Move your little herd of screaming liquid spewers along, and keep them the *&^(^ away from me. We've got to go before I miss my connecting flight.

 Frazzled wrote:
I do get annoyed with the kids though. Move your little herd of screaming liquid spewers along, and keep them the *&^(^ away from me. We've got to go before I miss my connecting flight.

I spit out my rock star.

 Frazzled wrote:
I do get annoyed with the kids though. Move your little herd of screaming liquid spewers along, and keep them the *&^(^ away from me. We've got to go before I miss my connecting flight.

I'm perfectly fine with sitting them first so they can get situated.

I sat next to a couple of 7-8 year old boys. Their mom plopped a Wendy's bag in front of them and went to the back with the infant and dad.

Ketchup packet fight! alalalalala!

We seem to be done