Being a L̶a̶d̶y̶ Female Veteran

We just passed Veteran’s Day, and I’m going to go ahead and bitch about something that happens too often for my taste and really gets stuck in my craw - Females are Veterans, too.

A few stories for you, relating to this:

1. I’ve had (on more than one occasion) someone stop me near my vehicle, which has vet plates, and tell me to ‘thank my husband for his service.’       
I’m sorry, what’s that now? Thank who? Last I checked, I didn’t have a husband, so that’s presumptuous on many levels.

2. My Garden parents wanted to go get some gummies to help them with sleep/pain, so we field-tripped to Wacky Jack's in Isabella, and Barb and I checked in, and then Lonnie went to get his ID scanned, and the woman said, "Oh, you're a veteran; you get a 15% discount." Like she hadn't seen my ID 30 seconds ago, that also carries the veteran designation on it.

3. Yesterday, my Uncle Larry and I went to Applebee’s, where they are kind enough to give vets a free meal on 11/11. We were sitting at the bar, and I was the only female sitting there, and a manager came around with $5 gift cards to hand out to the veterans. She handed one out to everyone but me, so I said, ‘Oh, I don’t get one?’ and she asked if I was a veteran to which I answered yes. Then she proceeded to tell me a story about how she had met a spouse who was abused after her deployed husband came back a changed man, and how she thought that spouses really were soldiers, too. Ummmm, great story, but did she miss the part that I’m not a spouse, but a vet?
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I get that I’m talking about shit that doesn’t really matter at all in the grand scheme of things, but my military service is one of the things in my life that I am most proud of, so I do get a bit disgruntled when it’s still viewed as a ‘Boys Club,’ kind of situation. It also goes up my ass sideways if someone comes at me suggesting that I receive benefits that I didn’t earn.

And now, I will get off my soapbox and return to regularly scheduled programming largely involving travel (but it’s my blog, so I’ll chatter about whatever I feel like. Or get requests for.....as long as I feel like it!). I did actually have an oh-shit situation last night that’s excellent material, so I’ll be coming at you with that shortly.