Discrimination?
Chief Tango sends this link from Tennessee, where a soldier claims that cab driver picked him up at the bus station in Nashville and then let him out a few blocks later because he’d been in the military;
[Allen] Pendley said Sunday afternoon he took a bus from Clarksville to Nashville after a weekend of training.
He was dressed in uniform standing outside the downtown Greyhound station trying to get a cab home.
“Before I could call one, a Yellow Cab pulled up and asked me if I needed a cab and I said yeah sure,” Pendley said.
But after only a few blocks Pendley said the questions started coming and it was obvious the cab driver didn’t like his answers.
“He asked me. He said ‘are you in the military?’ I said ‘yes sir I am.’ And then it got real quiet,” he recalled.
“Then when he pulled over he said get out of the cab.”
It sounds weird to me since Pendley was in uniform before he got in the cab. But the cab company says they’re investigating the incident and it may cost the cab driver his job.
In the video, Pendley says that he thinks the cab driver is Somali, but that he’s not sure.
In a related story, sent to us by ROS, Fox News reports that a veteran in Georgia who posted a picture of her Concealed Carry Weapon license on Facebook which resulted in her being banned from school property where her daughter attends;
Tanya Mount says she was approached by a police officer from the Richmond County Board of Education at McBean Elementary School and was warned that she was about to get a criminal trespass warning.
The officer told her that the principal at the school was “scared” of her and did not want her on the school property, she told the station.
“He asks: ‘Were you in the Army?,”‘ she said. “I said, yes. He’s like, ‘Do you have a concealed weapons permit?’ I said yes,” she told the station.
From the local news;
It’s a bit telling that the officer would ask her if she had been in the Army. I guess the principal has succumbed to the “scary vet” stories in the media. But, yeah, I wouldn’t post a picture of my CCW license on Facebook. The whole point of having a concealed weapon is that no one knows you have a weapon.
Category: Veterans Issues
OK … we are still on the sign.
That is a BS reproduction of a urban tale. In fact, I believe I have one that I purchased in Newport, RI in 1984 (exact replica of the one shown above).
Note that there are variants “Virginia Beach, VA 1940” and “Virginia Beach, VA 1943.”
Does anyone really believe that that city of Virginia Beach, VA (with associated year date stamp) actually printed such signed in paper or cast iron, suggesting that this was an ordinance?
In 1943 while we were at WAR … I think not!
@38: WRT Pendley, there’s another possiblity that has not been discussed but which I think is probably quite likely:
It’s possible that the cabbie picked up Pendley with the intention of driving him to his destination, and then Pendley proceeded to insult the driver’s heritage, argue with the driver, ask for special consideration because of his military status, or was just an asshole, and the cabbie said “I don’t need your fare, GTFO of my cab” and that Pendley then made up the suspicious-sounding “he kicked me out of the cab because I was a soldier” story to try and get some sympathy and/or attention.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time somebody tried to mask their own obnoxious behavior with false accusations of discrimination. 😉
martinjmpr: that is indeed a possibility. And if that’s the case, that kind of conduct could also explain his his rank in AKO (PVT) – if it’s correct. (smile)
If that’s the case, I’m also guessing that will come out in the wash when the matter’s investigated further.
So … American troops were welcomed with open arms in greater England during the build up, air campaign and eventual assault on the Nazi’s to the south (1941 – …).
In 1980 I made a NATO cruise. And although we were welcomed and appreciated everywhere we stopped in greater England we heard the whispers … Those Yanks, “over sexed, over paid and over here.”
Google it!
Damn right!
There are a lot of Somalis in Nashville & there have been for a long time now. This is the first time I’ve heard of behavior like this. Story seems a bit fishy.