Mary Claire Caine is a military veteran
WSFB tells the story of Mary Claire Caine who came out of a Harris Teeter store and found a nasty note taped to her car which she had parked in a designated veteran parking spot;
It read, “Maybe [you] can’t read the sign you parked in front of. This space is reserved for those who fought for America….not you. Thanks, Wounded Vet.”
Caine’s heart sank.
“The first thing I felt was confusion that there was a mistake, and that I had to talk to this person and ask them why they were so quick to assume I wasn’t a veteran and that I was taking privileges that didn’t belong to me,” said Caine about the hurt she felt as she peeled the note off the window, tempted to crumple it up and throw it in the trash.
“For a split second I thought, ‘Am I a worthy enough veteran to park in this spot?’ And, then I got very angry at myself for even considering that,” Caine recalled.
I spent time on Facebook yesterday apologizing for my people on the posts about this story. But, you know, there’s so much wrong with this story, I feel a need to shoot off my big mouth. Firstly, to the fellow who left the note; That scolding shit doesn’t work outside of Facebook. Who the Hell are you? The veterans’ parking police? Next time, grab your huevos and ask someone to their face if they’re a veteran instead of sneaking around posting notes. I’ll bet you’re the same guy who comments on my Facebook posts after looking at the picture and not reading what I actually wrote.
To Ms. Caine; So? It was a note crafted by an imbecile, don’t try to make all of us male veterans look like misogynist cretins. I know there are women who are veterans, I know a few. So crumple the note up and throw it away. If I saw a woman parking in a veteran spot, I’d naturally assume that she’s a veteran – the same way I’d feel seeing someone parked in a handicapped spot.
Thanks Harris Teeter for recognizing veterans and our service. I remember the post-Vietnam days when veterans had to hunker down so that no one knew they were veterans, so even though I think that veterans parking spaces is a foolish idea, I appreciate the spirit in which it was given.
Now, let’s all just go carry on, shall we?
Category: Dumbass Bullshit
Are we sure that the Air Force is really part of the military???? 😛
*hunkers down waiting for incoming
I do believe I read the following quote on this site: “There are only two military branches: The Army and the Navy. The Air Force is a corporation and the Marine Corps is a cult.”
Prior Air Force, current Army.
The Corps is more like a gang.
Once in, there is no escape.
Ever.
To use another famous quote, “You Betcha!!”…”Once a Marine, Always a Marine”
😉
Except maybe to the National Guard. Lots of Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children in the Guard. After they get over realising they do not shoot as well on ARF ranges, they are good soldiers. Usually.
That was a culture shock after KD ranges.
WTF is this whack a mole sh!t.
I did well on my ASVAB. Well enough to get into the Air Force.
My detailer asked me why I didn’t want to join the Air Force.
“Because I wanted to join a military service.”
All he said was, “I’ll be right back.” and ran out the door to have a quick chat with the USAF recruiter.
Reminds me of the OCS candidate who told his TAC Officer (who was MI – Benning was one of the few posts she and her 11B husband could be stationed together) that despite coming from MI, he wanted to be an Infantry officer “because MI officers are wimps, ma’am!” I suspect he is STILL doing pushups.
We the willing, lead by the unknowing, have done the impossible for the ungrateful. We have so much for so long with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing…..Semper Fi
*Calls in an A-10 strike on Old Trooper‘s position 😀 😀
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-brrrt-on.png
That just gave me a huge hard on.
Yeah, got kinda chubbed up myself.
Gotta use those A10 strikes now before they’re gone!
They were definitely in the military before 18 September 1947. (smile)
Can I get one of those planes?
Talk to a USAF GO. They’re trying to figure out how to send them to DPMO as excess, so they might give you a “deal”.
To Old Trooper. Listen up, you miserable jackass, I am proud to be a double enlistment, double Vietnam tour veteran of the United States Air Force, and to have walked a sentry dog in 18 months in Libya–Wheelus Air Base, before Vietnam, and also had some time at a SAC base. In my second enlistment, the one where I spent 13 months in Korea and in Vietnam 1967-1969, I was a military journalist on non crew member flight orders and duty required hostile fire missions helping the regular crewmembers hump ammo boxes and flares (you every hear of Spooky, you miserable sod? How about Shadow?)I don’t make smartass remarks about the Army though Beetle Bailey certainly comes to mind a lot of times, though I keep my mouth shut. So when you have something legitimatre to say, say it. Otherwise keep your brainfart opinions way down range…..
Signed
Proud of the Air Force
Really? You got that butthurt over a one-liner? I was Air Force and gave as good as I got when some ground pounder, swabbie, jarhead, or puddle pirate came around making jokes about the Air Force but I knew it was just kidding around. Damn…you need to take it easy with the hooch.
Hmm. Sounds like someone had a bad extraction . . . or needs one. (Hat tip to anyone who gets the rather obscure pun here.)
Lighten up, Francis.
And I don’t like no one touching me! so any of you homo’s touch me….and I kill ya.
Somebody needs more fiber in their diet.
Look, fuckstick; Have you ever heard of inter-service rivalry?? Of my friends, I count all branches of service and we all give each other a healthy dose of shit. My brother was a Navy Corpsman, my dad and foster dad were Army in Vietnam, My Great Uncle was Army Air Corps(remember those guys??), 2 cousins were in Vietnam, etc.
That all said; as the saying goes “fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.
Thank you for your service, now fuck off.
During my 20 years of active duty in the Air Force, my favorite story was on how to define, “Secure the building”:
To the Marine Corps: surround the building with riflemen and put a team on the roof.
To the Army: surround the building and call in the Air Cavalry and Field Artillery.
To the Navy: unplug the coffee pot, lock the file cabinets, turn out the lights, and lock the doors.
To the Air Force: call the realtor.
Does that make me a miserable jackass?
Oh, I must get back to work; it’s 1105 hours or as we said in the Air Force, Mickey’s big hand is on the five and his little hand is on the eleven.
Its the kinder gentler service, Thats why her feelings got hurt ..
I’ll share the fox hole with you Old Trooper…
Guess I missed this lates “social media” drama… last time I saw one of these the note turned out to be completely fake. However, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt that it wasn’t fake.
Though why assume it was one of us knuckle dragging neanderthal men who left it? Plenty of wounded female veterans out there, and if you think they cannot have a chip on their shoulder, you have another coming.
In any case, I don’t need a special place to park. I can easily obtain a handicap placard, I refuse to. I don’t need it despite being elligible. Elligible does not equal you having to use it.
Looks like my wife’s handwriting..
First Sgt. Katrina Moerk is trolling parking areas now.
Splash out. Good one. Always looking for a way to bring her name back up.
Okay, that’s some funny shit right there.
I agree,
I could get a handicapped parking placard my orthopedist has asked on several occasions if I wanted one yet.
Nope I dont need it. I can move, sometimes I need a cane, other times a brace and cane but I can move.
I have braces for both knees, a cane, C-spine and lower spine issues. I walk, I get where I am going. Somedays it sucks, but every day is a holiday and every meal is a banquet. I am not special or in need of special priveleages. Pisses me off seeing others who simply game the system for all they can get, needed or not.
Bit of a tangent…
Ditto, rb325th. Though not as beat up as you and/or Enigma4You, I could probably talk my way into a handicapped placard if I tried hard enough. One day I suspect I may actually need one.
But until that day comes, as far as I’m concerned the handicapped spaces can be used by those that really need them. I’ll wait my turn.
My only problem with it is she is making such a big deal out of it. It reminds me of peeps in restaurants who come forward with notes written on receipts that end up being written by themselves.
This took place in Connecticut…. ’nuff said.
Here in Texas, we have counties bigger than that.
I think you have STEERS bigger than that, David! 😉
Nah – even in Texas there isn’t that much bull. CT has the Phony ‘Nam Vet Senator, remember?
However, when traveling I-10 in NM between Las Cruces and El Paso, I sometimes did wonder if the bulldozed piles from the cattle feedlots weren’t nearly as big as CT. (smile)
True story about a Texas longhorn:
I used to board my mare at a stable near Helena that kept a small herd of cattle for practice with roping and bulldogging. These were longhorns, descendants of the cattle from Texas. They normally were sent to slaughter as yearlings, so we didn’t usually see them at full-size. The owner would sometimes keep one or two and raise them up for his personal freezer, but those were normally kept in the back pens, away from the stables. One day, I rode my mare around to where those pens were — and came nose-to-nose with a full grown specimen of the breed. My mare was an Appaloosa, a solid 1300 lbs and 15.1 hands tall. The steer was on eye level with her, his back was a good two hands higher than hers, and his horn spread was almost as wide as she was long. If that wasn’t bad enough, he had an attitude, and took a threatening posture toward my mare. Even though he was inside a strong pen, I promptly wheeled her around and got her away from there. I had heard and read stories of longhorns killing horses — and after that encounter…I believe them!
I saw a pair of full grown oxen many years ago. Buckskin color and maybe 12 feet tall. beautiful. I suddenly understood why oxen were preferred over horses for pulling wagons across the plains.
We eat beef maybe two years old, but working beeves could be 10-12 years old and still growing.
Hondo, you know what’s in those bulldozed piles don’t you?
The piles are the pre-positioned lesson plans for the current/upcoming USASMA classes that are conducted on Biggs Field.
And the leftovers are saved for when they do SSD5!
My daughter was an inveterate reader and was always totally engrossed in her books – invariably as we drove by there (those are dairies, by the way) someone would call out “Anna, roll down your window” and she would get a faceful of unexpected ‘perfume’. Great fun for all.
Most states west of the Mississippi, including California, Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho have counties bigger than that. Texas has ZIP codes bigger than Connecticut.
Seems like people who act based upon assumptions rather than known facts do get themselves into a lot of trouble. Needlessly.
On the other hand, I also get that small aggravations can build up into something which each individual act is not. Think about being tapped on the arm – no big deal, right? But if someone taps on your arm long enough, it can make your arm sore.
Yeah, yeah. I laugh all the way to the bank because my USAF retired pay is the same as that from every other service branch for my rank/service points. Neener, neener, neener. Hah!
I have seen Vet spaces, I have seen expectant mother spaces, I have seen Handicapped spaces.
The space I need is the “I really have to take a crap bad space”. You know the one that needs to be right up front fire lane because in 2 minutes you are going take a shit.
Try the McDonald’s parking lot, spaces are practically at the rear entry door. They don’t even care if you drag in snowmelt and they just cleaned the floor.
Give me a freakin’ break. TV News…Gee, did they just happen to be there? Five will get you ten she takes the store’s offerings, despite the WWP mention. And another thing: A decent person who is a Veteran thinks, “Some elderly Vet might need this space. I’ll walk.” I am not joining the attention whore;s fan club.
Bingo. I have seen these spots and have never, and would never use them. My take is, the people that are most likely to use these things are the types of people that wind up on in our yearly tournament.
I don’t even want to get into whether or not this could be fake, but why do we automatically believe its some misogynistic grunt who hates women, rather than some moron (that doth protest too much) who can’t understand why a Vet wouldn’t plaster their bumper with “hey look at me I’m a Vet” flair. I mean did the note writing dork even see the person who got out of the car before going all internet anonymity style tough guy?
Everyone involved needs to chill out.
This sounds like the new version of “somebody insulted me on my receipt.”
Lady, if the idiot who wrote that note (assuming it’s real) didn’t have the guts to confront you directly, it’s not worth worrying over. You sound like a little girl who dropped her lollipop.
Not to point out things that have already been pointed out BUT
1. Suck it up buttercup. Fill this out.
( http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii134/Bullseye415/HurtFeelingsReport.jpg )
2. Yeah real high speed low drag uniform photo there chicky boo….. no ribbons and no rank to speak of. I’m impressed. /sarc
3. I have 23 years in, not wounded but 30% disabled and I’d NEVER park in one of those spots because 3a. I don’t feel the need to. I can walk. 3b. I don’t want to draw attention to myself because I’M NOT A GIANT ATTENTION WHORE.
1. She’s in the air force, she’ll have to check with her union rep before she fills out the hurt feelings report.
2. The air force hires people to wear their racks for them because it gets too heavy after 2 rows. (more union contracts)
3. She’s in the air force, their union contract entitles them to garnering attention. Not quite as powerful a contract as for the SEALs, but its right up there.
My cousin enlisted in the AF in the 1980’s, and had a picture almost exactly like that taken in (during?) Basic Training.
She’s quite a bit older than she was when that picture was taken. Possibly before 9/11. It could be a case of ‘life has passed me by’ blues.
Oh My God!!! Someone did something mean somewhere to someone! Let’s make sure it gets on the news!!!!
I suggest she grow up and move on. There are assholes all over the place and she should either ignore it or, if possible, confront the jackass and settle it. Going to the news though? Guess she wants an ARCOM too.
This happened in Connecticuttut … Must be Banks!
Meh, COULD BE!! I wonder if he’s still butt-hurt about getting exposed and paying the price?
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Veteran only parking spot. We do have police only spots around here and those are promptly ignored as well.
I just saw a veteran parking spot at an Applebee’s restaurant. Only spot left so I parked in a different lot and walked back to the restaurant. I just assumed it was for disabled veterans. This able bodied women should quit thinking about herself, and leave reserved spots for those veterans or others in need. I always park in the back of parking lots. Three reasons..need the exercise, less dings in the doors, elderly people and disabled need those close spots. Of course the entitlement crowd covets those spots.
Many times I see someone park in a handicap space and then walk around inside the store pushing a big shopping cart with ease. Phony Bologna handicap Posers. Lots of them out there pulling this scam.
Handicap parking privileges is abused extensively.
All of the Harris Teeters around here have the spaces and I’ve yet to see someone parked in the space.
As others have stated, I would never use it because I don’t mind walking, but I’m happy to give HT my money for providing the space.
The last time I checked, cars are gender neutral. So unless the note writer saw her get out of her car, there is no way that he based his not-a-veteran assumption on her sex. I’m guessing that the guy is just an all around ass hat who was pissed because he didn’t get the space. And, if he’s as disabled as he seems to insist, his issue should be with the number of handicapped spaces, not the number of veteran’s spaces. I’m sure that someone that physically incapable has a handicapped plate.
In the original article it mentions she is a realtor and her info is on her car, so that may be how the note-writer knew she was female.
However, in neither the original nor the story above does anyone state that man wrote the note. That is an assumption.
VERY GOOD POINT! It is assumed by all that a male wrote the note. Damn good point.
If she’s a realtor, this could be an advertising ploy.
Speaking of odd things that happen in stores:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2015/1/20/deputies_lithia_man_.html
I don’t know about this one. From the sound bite I heard on the news she almost seems to be pushing an agenda of men bad/women good. I’m not saying she made this up, but I’m not believing it based on what I’ve read/seen/heard yet.
Actually, my wife, (USAF Vet,) is the kind of person who goes up to Active Duty Personnel not wearing the Uniform correctly and chews ass. Always has been. But then, she was raised by a Jarhead, what can you expect? LOL!
I wonder if Harris Teeter has cameras on the parking lot and if so do they show anyone placing the note on her vehicle?
Haven’t used handicapped parking yet.
Don’t intend to unless there’s no grocery cart available to lean on.
But it DOES annoy me when I see people abusing that privilege when they are obviously able to perambulate without any kind of mechanical help.
This non-incident appears to me be a case of hurt feewings, with a smidgen of agenda added.
Parking is first come, first served, toots. Deal with it.
$10 says she made the note herself.
should be parking for disabled or senior vets. I always park way out since I’m still a relatively young vet plus I can’t deal with people’s driving especially in a parking lot.
Although if I had my kids especially the 1 and 4 year olds I perhaps may use it if there were no other spots. That being side we don’t have vet parking in Jersey.
I guess this is one way to get your name and face in the news if you’re a real estate agent and business is kinda slow during the winter months in Connecticut.
Because we all know that realtors are just as trustworthy as used car salesmen.
OK…her feelings are hurt…now go make me a sammich!
It was an anonymous note…*pft*
Who the fuck puts up a veteran parking sign other than a business whoring for attention. IMHO the only reserved parking should be for handicapped people.
It’s that kind of shit that patronizes vets and make us look like we are privledge seeking ass-hats.
Its also another reason for turds to pose as veterans.
Geez Louise, fellas… I don’t see anywhere in her comments that she said “all you mean old male veterans out there are misogynist cretins.” She was firing back, publicly, at one individual who didn’t have the guts to confront her in person, and it shows who’s really got the huevos. Good for her. Kind of reminds me of people who make snarky comments to those apparently able-bodied individuals who park in handicapped parking spots. Not all injuries are visible, and anyone who feels the need to judge others without knowing their situations needs to get a life and focus on their own self-improvement projects.
As for the AF not being real military: yeah, yeah, yeah. Been there, heard it, dismissed it. I know plenty of grunt and jarhead jokes and will share them on occasion, followed by my favorite self-deprecating zoomie jokes. What I tell non-veterans is that while the branches all rib one another, when it comes down to business, we’re all on the same team: America.
One of the best guys I ever knew in the Army was a former Airman. I still don’t know what the hell was wrong with him either, he left a pretty cush Air Force job for the Infantry, but damn if I don’t respect him for it.
They didn’t print it, but the interview I heard with her on the news she pretty much blamed men in general for the note and said something along the lines of how she wished we could move forward into the 21st century. So yeah she said it.
Vet only parking spot, first I heard of one. Someone as mentioned before needs to check the seruity cameras. As being the butt of jokes. I am a Airdale. Plus being a helo crew chief. You need to hear the MOSs talk down and make fun of us rotorheads. Once they are in a bad firefight and make a hot LZ Medi-Evac or exaction, they quickly change their minds about the wing fixed or rotor. Joe
Google Her. Attention whore of the first order. Dime to a doughnut whole she picks up business because of this.
I park there because my kids love it that mommy is a vet, GMAFB!
So proud of her service, but of all the groups and activities she is involved in, not one is vet based. Nuff said!