Having a family member serving in the military comes with some benefits, but free booze is definitely not one of them.
One woman, however disagrees.
A patron claiming to be a military spouse at an undisclosed restaurant was displeased after being left with a bill for two glasses of La Crema Chardonnay.
She punished the server by not leaving a tip and scribbled a rant about how military spouses should "get free stuff."
A screenshot of the bill was posted on the "Choosing Beggars" subreddit, where people are exposed for being "way too picky" or demanding.
She reprimanded the server by scribbling on the bill:
"I'm a military spouse it should be free – next time thank a military spouse."
She followed up the admonition with a smiley face as if to insinuate there were "no hard feelings."
Redditors responded accordingly.
"Bitch had the nerve to put a smiley at the end of that giant f*** you." – ArchaicMachine
The posted image was superimposed with:
"When I became a military spouse I thought I would get free stuff WTF!"
"Military spouses deserve drinks for free f**k this place! OMG F**K THIS PLACE! We serve our asses off way more than anyone."
Febrile_Penis/Reddit
Redditor HurricaneBetsy was more put off by the woman refusing to tip her server.
"No tip!! That's what the real issue is here. This entitled b***h thinks she should drink for free. Ok, fine."
"But she takes it out on the server making a few dollars an hour and relies on tips?"
"That's what killed me."
"You want to write a paragraph at the bottom of the receipt? Fine, but don't screw over the human being trying to make a living."
The commenter continued to explain how hard-working servers in the U.S. are dependent on tips.
"For all the US commenters who disagree with tipping or the foreign ones unfamiliar, tipping 15-20% for good to excellent service in restaurants is how servers make a living."
"That's how it works in the United States."
"Servers are wholly dependent on tips to earn a living. That's why it's deplorable when people get good to excellent service and tip poorly."
"You can disagree with the policy all you want but at the end of the day if you tip poorly for good service, you are directly screwing over another human being who made sure you enjoyed your dining experience, waiting on you hand and foot. That's all."
"Don't punish the human being trying to earn a living. The tipping system has been in place for a long time in the US, and love or hate it, that's how it works. There's a lot of systems I disagree with but I don't punish the people at the bottom just trying to make a living." – HurricanBetsy
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The woman's egregious act was met with sarcasm.
"She shouldn't have to pay, you know, because she f**ks a soldier /s. Also how does the server know that she's married to someone in the military? Do these people announce that when they're greeted with a menu? Wtf" – pigwalk5150
A member of the Navy recalled how one, "dependapotomus" or a "dependa," admitted suffering the most.
"The military spouses I've met have told me fairly early on [that they suffer more than the military member]. That is most of what they talk about. I was in the Navy for 6 years and I had one dependapotomus tell me she had a harder time serving than I did."
"All she did all day was spend her husband's money on multilevel marketing schemes and b***h to him why he didn't do over half the chores around the house."
"EDIT: For everyone commenting on dependapotomus, it's fairly common military jargon across all the branches of the US military..." – FrickenPerson
Sometimes, there just aren't enough answers.
"I have so many questions. Well, three."
"Did they try this before? Did they honestly think their husband serving meant 'Free things?' Is any chardonnay worth that much?" – SlurmsMcKensey
"So not only do they want free drinks they are implying that being in a relationship with someone in the military is harder than actually being in the military." – Obscure_Things
A member of the Military Police compared the incident to a similar response of entitlement.
"As an MP, you wouldn't believe how bad pulling these people over is."
"How you doing ma'am, my name's Specialist ..., The reason I pulled you over is you were doing 50 in a 35 back there. Can I see your ID and registration?"
"My husband is a Staff Sergeant!"
"That's great ma'am, I'll be right back with you."
"Okay ma'am that all looks good, just gonna issue you a war.."
"I can't believe you'd pull over a staff sergeant's wife! Do you know how hard he works?! I'm gonna tell him you pulled me over, he's gonna destroy you, a*****e!"
"So on, so on." – Patsfan618
"Military wives think they're like royalty or something or that their husbands are like immune to the law. Like it's cool that your husband is a SSG but the MPs really don't give a s**t." – nanalaan
This could explain her rationale.
"Because military spouses typically hang out with military spouses, and they all talk each other up."
"When you only hang out with like minded people those similar thoughts and actions magnify as you're constantly being reassured that what you think is correct, even when it's not." – freddyneverdies
"I don't get how someone can be so insane to try and exploit their husband risking his life."
"My husband is willing to die for your freedom, so give me free drinks!" – sarcastic_patriot
Benefits of active-duty military families include the military's version of healthcare called Tricare, Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), and "non-monetary compensation" which helps military families save money for shopping on the things they want or need.
Many private companies also offer discounts or free items for service members and sometimes their dependents.
However, alcoholic beverages are not a universally recognized perk.
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