Female vet says nasty note left on car accusing her of slighting vets
CONCORD, N.C. -- A female veteran from Concord, North Carolina, says a nasty note was left on her car at a North Carolina shopping center, accusing her of abusing a parking spot designated for veterans, CBS affiliate WBTV reported.
"I know I parked in one of the Veteran Parking spaces today, it was hot. I had been in and out of my car several times already this afternoon, and I was only going to be a minute. Besides, the parking lot was full, so I just did it," Rebecca Hayes wrote on Facebook.
Hayes, who served in the U.S. Navy for eight years, said she normally doesn't use the two parking places reserved for veterans at the store. But she said on Monday, both spots were empty, so she decided to use one.
After about 30 minutes of shopping, she decided to head home. That's when she noticed a small piece of paper under her windshield wiper.
"At first, I thought someone had left a note because they hit my car or something like that," Hayes said.
She pulled over, expecting to call someone and swap insurance info. Instead, she cried while reading a note that accused her of abusing the veteran parking spot.
"This parking is for Veterans, lady," the note read, "Learn to read [and] have some respect."
Hayes said it is possible the note was left because she is a woman, and didn't fit the "stereotype" of a veteran in her business-casual attire, WBTV reported.
"Veterans come in all shapes, sizes, genders and colors," Hayes told WBTV in a phone interview. "More veterans don't fit that stereotype than do."
Hayes' husband is also a veteran. He served in the U.S. Army, and she said that he has used the parking spot before. Unlike her, she said, he's never received more than a "thank you for your service" when getting out of his car.
And Hayes has a message for the note writer.
"I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to have this conversation face to face, and that you didn't have the integrity and intestinal fortitude to identify yourself, qualities the military emphasizes," Hayes wrote on Facebook. "Which leads to one question, I served, did you?"