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Comment by ericmay | Hacker News Reader

This is great, and as an aside I want to mention that if you are in high school and you are smart but maybe not ready for college, joining the military out of high school, using your GI Bill to get an engineering degree, and doing a good job and getting good grades is a first class ticket to true middle class.

You graduate debt free, eligible for Pell grants, you get paid BAH (monthly housing stipend) and you don’t have to rush 4 years of school but can take your time. Military service + engineering skills after graduating at, say, 26 years old and you’re set up for a good ride. Plus the VA loan when you’re ready to buy a house.

But if you don’t have a Purple Heart or you aren’t really old you better not park in those “veterans parking” spots I see at Lowes.

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Off topic from the article but I will share my story.

Parents divorced when I was 16 and I was sort of left to fend for myself. No abuse or trauma in a direct sense but I would wake up, no one would be at the house and I would drive myself to school at 17.

Tried community college after high school but was working 50 hours as a fast food manager so that didn’t work as well as I planned. Eventually joined the military on a 5 year contract. When I got out I went back to community college, Theron was free and I got close to 2k per month stipend. Transferred to a UC for CS and graduated around 30.

Got a short term job and eventually ended up at a large Silicon Valley tech company.

It was a late start but I feel like I got to see a snapshot of society that none of my peers have seen, especially the American born ones. The immigrants mostly have unique paths of their own that are interesting.

GI bill was truly awesome and helped me achieve a salary and position I never thought possible for me.

This is a great story. Thanks for sharing!

> But if you don’t have a Purple Heart or you aren’t really old you better not park in those “veterans parking” spots I see at Lowes.

The signs at Lowe's say "Veteran Parking Only", not "Purple Heart Recipient Parking Only" or "Retired Service Member Parking Only".

The class of total US veterans represents 6.7% of all US adults 18 years and over on a trend that's been consistently declining for at least the past 2 decades[1]. There's no moral hazard here and Lowe's is kind enough to extend enough privileged parking to go around.

[1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=16k9O

It's not a moral hazard and I should have been more clear, unless you are a disabled veteran, received a purple heart or similar, or you are old, I personally think it's cringey as hell to park in these spots and wouldn't be caught dead using one for any other reason. It's a matter of pride and honor for me.

The 10% off everything in store? Yea I'll use that one though but I sure as hell feel weird doing it!

> It's a matter of pride and honor for me.

That's certainly on you, and to each his own (a freedom we once swore to defend, right?), but this 10-year, 2-tour vet wouldn't dare deny the privilege to the lowest ranking prior junior enlisted desk jockey who served a single term and never once deployed, or even some civilian poser who has yet to internalize the core value of integrity.

The mission requires service of all forms; surely the preservation of pride and honor isn't predicated on taking a bullet or losing a limb or surrendering 20+ years of adult life for country.

> The 10% off everything in store? Yea I'll use that one though but I sure as hell feel weird doing it!

Why? Lowe's rakes in a handsome 33% gross margins and billions in net profit every year[1]. In exchange for extending a mere 10% retail discount to 6.7% minority class, the company receives the intangible benefit of community association, positive PR, and share of a growing homeowner customer base (thanks in large part to the VA) with recurring needs...in other words, it's a calculated business decision and marketing expense, not charity.

[1] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/60667/00000606672300...

> The mission requires service of all forms; surely the preservation of pride and honor isn't predicated on taking a bullet or losing a limb or surrendering 20+ years of adult life for country.

To me, parking your car in a "veterans" spot at Lowes or anywhere requires exactly that. I'm not a charity case. My legs work just fine thank you.

Obviously we disagree here, but I say no thanks to the "privilege" to park closer to a suburban hardware store and have a shorter walking distance than my grandma.

> Why? Lowe's rakes in a handsome 33% gross margins and billions in net profit every year

I get that, and I use it, but it still feels awkward to me.

And I'd like add if you are not a "Pro" you better not park in the "Pro Parking" spots at Home Depot either.

I laughed at that. I forgot they had those.

This sounds great, but aren't you risking getting deployed who knows where and fighting for who knows what?

Yeah, you shouldn’t need to risk your life to get to the middle class

Even if you're never deployed to a combat zone, you may be involved in the planning of missions which kill or maim civilians with undue care.

I'm not some hippie peacenik but the US government (and every gov I've seen) does a very poor job of picking its battles and avoiding civilian casualties. I decided not to volunteer because I can't trust them to tell me who to kill.

This is spot on.

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