I regularly wear a hat (I don't have as much hair as I used to have) identifying my former Army unit. When I am in Monroe it is not uncommon to get a nice "thank you for your service' at various places around town. But, when we're down here there are days that I will get that 4-5 times a day. Three of us stood and talked about the situation with N. Korea at the local restaurant-coffee shop this morning. Last spring I had a complete stranger buy breakfast for my wife and me. I have no idea on earth who it was although my wife did comment later that she had seen a man 'staring' at my hat for a long time while we were eating. The waitress had actually already brought our check and somehow she managed to sneak it back off our table. Our waitress did say it was a man that eats there occasionally but is not a regular.
And then 3-4 days later we were eating breakfast and a young gal maybe 12-13-14 walked up to our table and asked if she could have our check stating that her Dad wanted to buy breakfast for us. We did get a chance to talk to her Dad for a few minutes. He was a coach at one of the local schools. No military background at all... just enjoyed doing it occasionally (our lucky week I guess). We haven't crossed paths with either party this year but we're still looking. I'd sure like to return the favor and spend some time talking.
Then yesterday I noticed the spare tire on our trailer was down to 14 psi so I took it down to the local tire dealer where our daughter has her repair work done when Dad isn't around to do it. She offered to stop and pick up the tire after they called and said it was ready to go. When she got there the man said he thought he had seen that I was wearing a veteran's hat of some sort when I dropped it off. She told him that "Yes, Dad is a Veteran". He marked the bill 'veteran' and put the tire in the back of her truck for her. He said it is their policy to do tire repairs for all veterans at no charge!!!
I'm not aware of any tire dealer at home that does that but I'd like to hear if there is.
I thought at one time I had started a thread asking for anyone to list any local business that does some form of recognition like this but I can't find it... to far back now I guess.
Anyway, if you know of someplace please post it...
I know many restaurants do something around Veteran's Day or the 4th of July and that is great too... but I'm looking for those that show their appreciation 'year around'

And please don't get the idea that I'm only looking for 'free' stuff... I'm more interested in recognizing those that are recognizing US!
To any and all veterans reading this post...

the bigreddog,
United States Army
1969-71