An Air Force veteran was shocked to discover a nasty note slamming her for parking in a spot saved for servicemembers taped to her car during a routine trip to a North Carolina grocery store.
Four-year Air Force veteran Mary Claire Caine was loading her groceries into her car at a Harris Teeter store in Wilmington on Friday when she found the note on the passenger-side window, according to NBC affiliate WECT.
“Maybe [you] can’t read the sign you parked in front of. This space is reserved for those who fought for America…not you. Thanks, Wounded Vet,” the note read.
Caine, who served overseas in Kuwait and on the flight line of the F-117 Nighthawk, told WECT that she’s proud to hold a “Veteran Parking” tag and never expected any backlash.
“The first thing I felt was confusion that there was a mistake,” Caine said
She initially wanted to speak with the person who wrote the note to understand why they were so quick to assume she wasn’t a veteran and that the parking privilege didn’t belong to her. She also wondered whether she received the note because she’s a woman.
"I think they took one look at me when I got out of my car and saw that I was a woman and assumed I wasn't a veteran and assumed I hadn't served my country," Caine said.
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While the likelihood of finding the person is slim, Caine hopes her ordeal will teach others not to make assumptions about veterans.
“I want them to know they owe me and every other female service member who's fighting now and who's fought in the past, an apology for jumping to conclusions," Caine told WECT.
