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1) Military deserves respect. But that respect does not have to be in the form of a free lunch. As some vets have said, they don't even want it because they feel that serving in the armed forces is just expected. It's probably better to thank them as you see them, or leave them alone as a lot may be going through their mind.
2)Buying something to encourage respect isn't necessarily in everyone's budget. I have been in the airport several times and seen groups on military troops walk through. It would not be optimal for me to spend $50+ to feed those guys.
3)You shouldn't disrespect the person in the uniform, but you can dislike what the uniform may stand for. Most people in the army did not sign up to perpetuate the problems that our government started. More likely they felt a calling to get up a defend the country that supported them for all these years. But it shouldn't be unpatriotic to call the military out where they are wrong. I would agree that since WW2, all of the wars that the US participated in was a "world police" fashion. And like other posters have said, the more we remain overseas fighting, the more people become infuriated with the US and want to hurt us.
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I wouldnt agree that becoming a teacher in an inner city school is honorable, Most of them I have seen don't care about the kids, and are there because they couldnt get hired on anywhere else, and only care about getting a paycheck.
4) I disagree with this post. Just because certain teachers are bad doesn't mean they are all bad. I am sure several inner-city teachers have decided to teach in underperforming schools because they want to improve America as a whole or the community they came from.
Saying that police sit around and give speeding tickets is almost the same as saying that military troops sit at bases and train. Doesn't mean that they don't deserve respect. Any time the police get a call there's a potential for a lethal situation.
I respect the military troops that I see. My grandfather served in Vietnam and Korea, and received a Purple Heart. But like me, he does not feel that the war we are currently engaged in is right. He also believes that the military and government trick young people into joining, and I agree with him there too.
So to answer the OP, good for you. Glad you gave that man a meal. Though it seems more like you did it to make yourself feel good, and are now bragging about in on the Internet. As for me, I will stick to a simple "Thank you for your service."
There are good ones and bad ones, doctors, teachers, whatever, military too. Iv' met some great military people. I also know one that is faking PTS and collecting disability while working under the table for cash and another that's a bit of a phscho and I just don't like him. I don't buy lunch for people I don't know.
I have a child with special needs. A doctor saved his life. We have some great doctors. Along the way I have met some bad doctors and one particular therapist that turned out to be a predator. I don't buy lunch for people I don't know.
I had a sixth grade teacher that I will never forget and she made a difference in my life. I have met other teachers that do nothing but complain. I don't buy lunch for people I don't know.
Because you have the job does not mean you are good at it. Blind praise for any line of work is just wrong. People are individuals.
In my opinion, yes. Why? Well for one, you are usually shipped to a foreign land who more than likely hates us. You are away from your family for months at a time and don't get to sleep in your own bed at night. I'm not saying going to med school or teaching in an inner city or becoming a police officer is not honorable, I just think becoming a soldier is more difficult physically and psychologically. The tragedy is how we treat soldiers who clearly need some help when they get back into mainstream life but that's a whole other topic.
My career Air Force nephew is currently living in Italy with his wife and children. They have spent almost his entire 20 year career living over seas in way above average housing, while they explore everything their current country has to offer. He has sacrificed nothing - NOTHING. If you see him in an airport, should you buy him a hamburger??
1) Military deserves respect. But that respect does not have to be in the form of a free lunch. As some vets have said, they don't even want it because they feel that serving in the armed forces is just expected. It's probably better to thank them as you see them, or leave them alone as a lot may be going through their mind.
This.
The notion that people are selfish because they won't buy someone in uniform lunch is absurd.
My career Air Force nephew is currently living in Italy with his wife and children. They have spent almost his entire 20 year career living over seas in way above average housing, while they explore everything their current country has to offer. He has sacrificed nothing - NOTHING. If you see him in an airport, should you buy him a hamburger??
I'm sure he sacrificed something. In any event, SHOULD I buy him a burger? No. Will I? Perhaps.
Why do you have an issue with this? You see, your nephew is among a group of individiuals who provide our first line of defense against armed aggression. I find this to be quite honorable regardless if he's comfortable in Italy or sweating his nut$ off in the Middle East.
To quote my father (Lieutenant Commander Ham '68-'75) - "Why should I be supportive of some basically mercenary kid who signs up to fight in an illegal, immoral war that does nothing to safeguard our nation in order to get a paycheck and free college?"
How are they a "mercenary" kid?
How do you know that the SOLE REASON to sign up is to fight this "illegal" and "immoral" war?
Sounds like your father has in issue withe today's military as well.
My right to free speech.... my right to back it up with my second amendment right... to freely assemble and show disdain for tyranny...to worship or not the one true GOD without government intrusion...to protect people like you who are clueless....need I go on?
With due respect to military people who serve in their own way, the list you made has actually been guarded and protected by civilians more than by the military. It was the supreme court who confirmed the 2nd amendment is a individual right, it wasn't the military that did.It was everyday people and some politicians who stood up for the 2nd amendment, not the military.
It was everyday people like Rosa Parks who stood up for civil liberties, the military or national guard blocked it when ordered by a governor. The military in general other than the revolutionay army and perhaps WW2 vets have protected American "interests" more than freedom.
When I was in the Navy, I never advertised the fact that I was military. What I did for a living was my business. I never went anywhere in public in uniform. I was proud of what I did for my country and that was all the acknowledgement I needed.
I remember I went on leave and my brother picked me up at the airport. I just had flown non-stop from Oahu to Dulles in Virginia on the red-eye and was pretty jet lagged. My brother and his wife insisted that I accompany them to some party or other that turned out to be chock full of liberals. My brother spread it around that I had just returned from the Gulf from Desert Storm where I was TDY to the Missouri from my submarine sitting in drydock in Hawaii. I was cornered and harangued about how wrong it was to kill and that the money for the military would be better off spent on social experimentation. I excused my self, went to the car and put on a T-shirt that had on the front a submarine riding on the surface with a nuclear detonation going on in the background. The caption read "Twentyfour empty missile tubes, a mushroom cloud, its Miller time". We left five minutes later.
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