It's not that he particularly enjoys paying full price. He just isn't comfortable with the concept of getting better treatment than his fellow citizens.
He gets it. Companies that offer discounts to veterans are, if their motives are to be given the benefit of the doubt, attempting to show appreciation for service to the nation and defense of the Constitution under which their capitalistic venture is made possible. There's nothing wrong with that.
It's just that the Colonel didn't dedicate the first three decades of his adult life for a buck-fifty off the price of a hammer or a buffet.
Make no mistake. These re-United States owe veterans, and their families, a debt they couldn't possibly repay.
Think about it. What's it worth to you to have someone else go to war in your stead?
But, that young American didn't go off to war for a paltry discount. In fact, one of the motives for military service most expressed by young Americans with their right hands in the air is the defense of the concept of equality treatment.
Seems to the Colonel that the money spent on discounts for all veterans could be redirected to the care of the few veterans who really need it. Most veterans the Colonel has ever seen taking advantage of a company's discount weren't particularly needy.
No judgment intended. Just an objective observation.
Frankly, veterans in real financial or physical distress aren't frequenting Lowes or Golden Corral. The veterans who really need help are having a hard enough time navigating the federal government's bureaucratic labyrinth.
Parenthetically, this post wasn't intended as a diatribe against the Veterans Administration. The are very good people doing very good things for veterans at the VA. But the inherent inertia of a federal bureaucracy means the VA as a whole provides substandard care and service to the nation's veterans. If the Colonel were in charge -- and he hears the loud collective frightful inhalations at that prospect -- the VA would exist in a form whose sole responsibility would be the determination of eligibility for and the disbursement of the financial benefits required by law.
Want to see the very best medical care given to veterans? Close the VA hospitals and enact law giving veterans head-of-the-line privileges at any hospital in the land.
But, about discounts.
The Colonel stopped taking advantage of "veterans" discounts a long time ago. He guesses the next honorable step is to figure out how to steer his passed-on discount to someone who really needs it.
Putting on the thinking cap. Will report findings at a later date.
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