Earlier this month, retired Navy Veteran Rebecca Landis Hayes used a “vets only” parking spot in Concord, North Carolina and found a nasty note on her windshield accusing her of disrespect and selfishness. The note’s author, someone who saw Hayes and decided she must not be a veteran, wanted to make it clear that Hayes was in the wrong, reports foxnews.com.
As is the way in the era of Social Media, Hayes went to Facebook to make the world aware of this injustice, and the response was intense – so intense that public opinion on the matter circled back to the accuser and invoked an apology.
The dustup began when Hayes Landis parked in a vets-only parking spot June 13 at a grocery store in Concord. After she went in the store, a person who apparently saw her park – and believed she was not a veteran – placed a note on her car: “This parking is for veterans, lady. Learn to read & have some respect.”
Hayes published the apology she received from the still-anonymous writer of the letter, and hopefully, the world can move on. I don’t mean the minimize the importance of our veterans or say they don’t deserve recognition and gratitude for their service, but maybe dedicated parking spots are not turning out to be the perk they’re meant to be – especially because enforcing them is impossible.
Reserved parking spots for vets seems like a great gesture and it’s possible they love the privilege – but it’s possible they don’t. Maybe someone should ask them. Maybe this is a situation where too much is just too much. If I were Hayes I wouldn’t go anywhere near a vets-only spot in the future – who needs the aggravation?
Read the article here.
