Posted on 12/13/2012 8:43:38 AM PST by Sporke
I have a problem. I was reading posts from Military folks on a certain social internet forum about Military Discounts.
It seems as though a fair number of Soldiers were offended that a certain restaurant didn't offer a discount.
I responded that when I served, I never expected a discount. If one was offered, I would accept, but I never asked for one. I also posted that if they went into a business expecting a discount, and were offended when they didn't get one, they were no better than a common beggar. Needless to say my post didn't go over very well.
My questions are these....should a business offer a discount? Should a Soldier ask for one? Should a Soldier expect one?
Owners should run their business the way they want.
I ask about discounts (except in San Francisco where I was told “we don’t give discounts to baby killers) but am not offended when they are not offered.
I will patronize a place that offers a discount over a place that does not.
No they shouldn’t expect a discount as if it’s a right, but then our military remains a reflection of our society as a whole, so it doesn’t surprise me in the least that you get flak from your response.
A soldier is free to ask for a discount. The establishment is free to offer one, or not. The soldier is free to take his or her business elsewhere, or not.
When Jesus healed the lepers, how many came back to thank him?
No, they shouldn’t expect a discount.
Seems to me there’s no harm in asking, and if one has military ID, in taking it.
But I am 60+. Some places offer senior discounts. I’ll sometimes ask if they offer a discount. Family does a lot of eating at buffets, sometimes we have to pay first. I’ll ask if they offer a discount.
If they do, then yea. If not, I have a choice to either accept the prices as is, or depart. Thus far, I have always accepted the price as is.
I have a retired military ID.
I ask for a military discount everywhere I go but I don’t expect to get one.
It’s actually a little “bonus” surprise if they say yes.
It’s up to the business, no, and no. That being said, there were a few times I was offered one without asking, and yes, I accepted their graciousness.
“should a business offer a discount? Should a Soldier ask for one? Should a Soldier expect one?”
What do we pay our troops, what do we expect from them, and how do they get treated by this administration, and what will be happening to what was promised them when they enlisted?
My wife & I mid-60s and what bothers us most is when restaurants give a senior discount without asking if we are seniors...really makes one feel older than dirt.
Lowe’s and Homer Depot give 10% military discounts if you flash your ID card. They do not ask you. It was a Lowe’s employee who actually told me about this at church a few years back. Until that time, I had been retired over 15 years and did not know it. I have never been given a military discount any other place but these two. I don’t ask and no one has actually offered. I know on Vets Day, places like Appleby’s and such give discounts and such.
I think we should all be somewhat alarmed at the growing entitled Obama voter segment within our military. The day will come when these types, along with the "pink swastika" types, will obey unlawful orders to disarm americans and arrest Christians.
A discount is similar to a tip. Tipping in America began in the old south when a slave belonging to somebody else did something for you. It was outside their normal duties so a gratuity was often given. It was, for example, standard that people left their shoes outside their bedroom doors in the expectation that they’d be put back polished. The tip was often in the shoe. I’d say given that history that tipping/gratuities and discounts are not generally a good thing. You don’t ask for a tip. It’s okay to accept one if it is offered.
History has moved on. Tipping is now expected in restaurants because the wait-staff is underpaid in the expectation that if they’re good they’ll make good tips. Even if they’re not good you’re EXPECTED to tip.
Discounts in the modern sense probably originate with Nixon’s wage and price freeze. That fundamentally changed pricing structures because they rolled back everybody’s product to the price it was on x date. If a company was running its product on that date as a loss leader then they might go out of business. Thus manufacturers started listing the suggested retail price, offering coupons and discounts based on one thing or another.
I always say to somebody in uniform “Thank you for your service.” If they were offended because I didn’t say it, that would be annoying. Likewise, to be offended because you can’t get a discount on somebody’s product is annoying.
Most pricing structures are carefully thought out. They take into account sometimes hundreds of variables. Most clerks are not empowered to vary the price even a little bit because some would abuse the privilege and hurt suppliers or their employers. There was quite brouhaha in my hometown when a clerk gave a couple of the local university football stars a discount. She got fired. But the local university jocks had come to expect discounts and it played badly before the university stepped in and forbid them from asking or accepting discounts.
“I use a hotel chain that has a standing military discount, their website has a box to check when you make reservations on line and just show your ID at check-in. It’s a nice discount 33% usually.”
Some hotel military discounts are more expensive than the regular price - I always check both.
bingo....it’s simple really
The bigger issue is when your military starts to expect to be treated as a member of an elite class separate from the citizens whose rights they serve to secure.
If you treat every soldier, fireman, police officer or public servant as a hero, true heroism can be obscured.
When i served i never sought to be treated any different from a non military citizen. Today i do not seek any veteran discounts because i served for a different reason than to secure a discount.
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