Veteran's Powerful Angry Note

Many retailers lately reserve spaces for veterans so they can park a little closer and have some convenience. On Saturday night, Rod Boyle, took advantage of one of the spots offered at Harris Teeter in North Carolina. Normally he doesn’t use the spaces but he was just running in for a couple of things. And, there is no reason that he shouldn’t have used the space, he is a retired Petty Officer First Class with 20 years served.With his grocery shopping complete, he exited the store, and when he returned to his car he found this note;[caption id="attachment_11596" align="aligncenter" width="900"]

Nasty note left for veteran[/caption]It reads;"You are a f@%#ing moron! I hope karma visits you often! This is parking for our veterans"Mr. Boyle didn’t actually see the note until he was driving away. When he stopped to get it and actually read what it had said he was angry, and rightfully so. He had every right to park there.“What business is it of someone to make that assumption?” Boyle said Tuesday. “I am a veteran. What made you think I wasn’t? You can’t tell if someone is a veteran just by what they look like, or the car they drive.”

That is a valid point. How could anyone know for certain if someone is a veteran or not based on the car? Should it be adorned with stars and stripes and have an eagle painted on the hood? For certain, that would be a sweet ride and no one would question it, but unnecessary. The only way to know for sure is to stake out a spot, wait for someone to park in it and ask them.

Boyle didn't want the incident to go unnoticed, so he drove back to the store and showed the note to the store manager. "I told them, 'I’m not angry at you or the store, and I know there’s nothing you can do,' but I wanted them to know," Boyle said. The retired Navy veteran said he couldn't stay angry because it was the individual's right to speak out even without the correct facts. "I feel tremendous honor for how the USA allowed me to proudly serve our country. My service was not only to defend, but also for the rights of Americans," Boyle said."One of those rights is freedom of speech, such as for a person to make an assumption, write a note and touch a car."

He told the news outlet that he hopes his story will make others think twice before jumping to conclusions. In this instance, a well-intentioned patriot was only doing their civic duty and looking out for the veterans. The note writer didn’t know the car belonged to a veteran, and couldn’t have. If the writer had known, the note wouldn’t have been written, right? The writer intended to stop some jerk from stealing valor, so they thought. There was only good intentions at the heart of this misunderstanding.“I really appreciate you looking out for the veterans, I think it’s really honorable. But before you actually judge somebody and touch somebody’s car, why don’t you get your facts straight first? But other than that, I hope you had a nice day,” Boyle said.