Stolen Valor And Bad Attitude
A friend of mine has been hired to sell last-minute tickets for a costumed float parade event in town. A man without a costume approaches the till.
Man: “Hello, I would like to purchase ten tickets.”
Friend: “Sure, that will be [amount].”
Man: “Actually, that should be [much smaller amount] because I have a military discount.”
Friend: “Can you provide me with IDs for all the tickets? Even a picture is enough.”
Man: “What? Of course not. I didn’t think I had to show anything to get a discount. Why would I think of that?”
Friend: “Well, can you show me your own ID, then?”
Man: “I— I forgot it home! C’mon, man. I rotated out of Bosnia a week ago. I need my rest.”
Friend: “What, did you time travel? Italy left Bosnia ages ago.”
The man huffed, punched the plexiglass screen between himself and my friend, and stomped off. My friend’s colleagues told him that the man was a notorious scalper trying to get a military discount, with very little success outside of absolute rookie cashiers.
I think some people should learn to put their time to better use than trying to scam people trying to visit an event by pretending to be a soldier with actual service under their belt.
