Yesterday I screwed up.
I was playing airsoft with the boys and we decided to go to a burger place, Culver’s, to get some food. Most of us wear OCP (or Multicam) camouflage while we play. I am one of these people. One of the guys was wearing M81 Woodland. None of us wear unit patches or anything that would affiliate us with the military, only the camouflage.
We head towards Culver’s and walk in. It’s about 5:15pm and the restaurant is in full dinner rush. We get a parking place and head inside. The moment we walked in the doors we had people staring at us. I could feel peoples eyes on me in my combat shirt and combat pants.
We wait to order and the awkwardness is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I walk up to order and halfway through the order the manager steps over and swipes her card and tells the guy taking my order to add the “military discount.” After she steps away I tell him, “I just got done playing airsoft with my buddies. I’m not military.” He looks back at me, shrugs and tenders the order. I reluctantly pay and walk to fill up my drink.
I can still feel the eyes on the back of my head as I fill up my cup. After filling up my cup a buddy and I walk back to find the group a seat. The both of us find a table and sit down. There are still people looking at us.
When the rest of the group come and join us they remark that they had the same experience with their respective cashiers.
We sit there for an hour chatting and eventually people disregard us and go back to their food. That didn’t make it any less awkward though. I made sure that I ordered some different camo for the next time we play. I don’t want this to happen again.
TLDR; I wore the US standard issue camo into a restaurant after airsoft and it was…awkward. I ordered a different pattern to mitigate this for the next time.
Comments
https://preview.redd.it/j8pgafyrbmxe1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8eadb02fc6f88e332063cd8cb0c7fc059d44f815
For reference, this is me about 45 minutes before I got to Culver’s.
You didn’t ask for a discount or anything and you couldn’t have planned on that reaction! In my book you’re in the clear and I think most other vets would agree.
What is the issue? Assuming you were military, it’s perfectly fine to wear your uniform to a restaurant. I get that you are not in the military, but presumably that’s what people would assume. Why were people staring?
I am in a “special forces” part of the country so, even with the beard, I still don’t see the problem.
I am a Vet. You can wear what you want, just do the same thing. You are not affiliated with the Armed Forces and just say so. I see no disrespect here.
“TL:DR”
Dipshits still going to see camo and assume.
M81 is a style of jacket, not camouflage.
You did not do a stolen valor
Not your fault.
https://preview.redd.it/jwbidzardmxe1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf3bcbb5e079c01ab03eea949b7b59836a3ca457
Thank us for our service!!!
Go in full kit next time and make really interesting.
This is not a fuck up. You are wearing clothing appropriate for the activity at hand and not trying to misrepresent yourself. If they choose to give you the discount when you specifically told them you aren’t military, you have nothing to apologize for.
got dang stolen valor , if i was the manager at culver’s i would have you arrested for impersonation of a US solder
Idk where you are, but that’s wild to me. The Culver’s in the areas that I go to wouldn’t bat an eye.
That’s why I do camo from a different country. Swedish Splinter and German Flecktarn look better anyway.
But you did everything right there.
I used to work on a base. No patches, no problem.
You went to Culver’s, nothing was FU
Wear what you want.
Are you in a super liberal anti-military area? I wouldn’t worry about it or buy different gear. If they want to push the discount on you, let them. You aren’t claiming anything. I worked on a base for over a decade and saw this stuff frequently, just enjoy it. Not a FU at all imo
I mean I’d be pretty concerned if I saw floating head.
Y’all look like you’re bow hunters. No one in Montana would look twice at you.
With that camouflage you got a discount, if you change they’ll see you coming! 😉
Do….they not have any hunters where you’re from? Or surplus stores?
Yeah this is normal, if someone makes the mistake and you correct them then no harm done, it’s not like you walked in demanding to be respected or something. Hell, I worked at a place that was like 5 minutes from a training base, we got a bus every week or two of guys in full uniform (and later in the day, a ton of people in full dress) and I remember punching in the discount and the guy said “oh, nah, don’t go to the trouble” and had a military ID and all so I know it wasn’t just some random guy in camo.
Majority of military folks I’ve met (and I did enlist at one point, so I’ve met quite a few) have been humble and pretty chill. The ones who made a big deal out of it were assholes on their way out.