My Dad died five years ago, and my mom will still spend 15 minutes haggling over his 10% military discount at Lowe's over $20 worth of plants. She doesn't do it anywhere else, just Lowe's.

JFC, Mom, here's two bucks, let's move on.

The only time I would give a military discount would be if you are a military member that meets the following criteria:

• You were conscripted for a defensive war

OR

• You volunteered (as in you weren't paid) to fight a defensive war

If you fight for a professional army, you're a professional, and professionals don't need discounts because they're doing what they're paid to do.

Years ago I used my USAA card to pay for food at a mall food court and the cashier gave me a military discount since my dad used to be in the army. Only time that's ever happened. I didn't ask for it, but I certainly didn't turn it down.

But...why? I never faulted people asking for any sort of discount when I worked retail. Why blame them for simply asking if there was a way to get something cheaper? I couldn't give a fuck if corporate was making less money while my fellow citizen saved some cash.

As a military veteran, this makes me a little sad... but the whole military discount thing has always made me feel weird. I mean, I'm no hero. I spent 20 years sitting at a desk, fixing computers. Why should I deserve a discount over any other office worker?

I currently live in an area far away from any military bases, so I've mostly stopped asking about military/veteran discounts. Most people here aren't used to military being around this area anyway so there's rarely a discount to offer. And I don't really care if I get a discount or not; it doesn't hurt me to pay full price.

But I've definitely worked with service members who would boycott businesses near our bases if they refused to provide a military discount. Some people get really entitled about their status. Those were the worst people I had to deal with in the service.

The idea that I should care about a corporate losing money is laughable to me. I'll give anyone a discount when allowed by the company without hesitation.

I'm not from the U.S., but why would people from the military get a discount? If you do that as a store, why not doctors and nurses too? Why stop there and why not include firefighters, government workers or teachers?

And who compensates you as a business owner for these giveaways? If your store happens to be close to an army base, do you just accept the disadvantage of giving away part of your profit?

It sounds pretty stupid. People should get paid enough to pay full price for their stuff. Especially by the government. Especially in a country that allocates an enormous part of their GDP to their military.

Fuck Reddit and Fuck Spez.

You can’t get your discount without going through the ID me website anywhere corporate nowadays anyway… it doesn’t work nor have human contact points, it’s impossible for older veterans to use and it says half of us don’t even exist so basically military discounts have become enshitified as well . It does however take millions of dollars from the government in subsidies to ID me to obstruct Our discounts and your unemployment and disability benefits. We’re both working class and in this together whether you give me my 10% off on hardware or not.

I'm so glad I gave all of my 20s to get shot at on the other side of the world in a desert, and now live with crippling PTSD, anxiety, and gastrointestinal disorders. But really, it's all worthwhile because I get 10% off at the Gap.

Serious question - in places where they offer military or veteran discount how do you check? Do you ask them to show some relevant id?