Probably. I have a tendency to see things a Black and White and believe that Gray Areas are nothing more than Things for which Someone hasn't made a Decision. You can't have Something exist and it be Wishy-washy. It is either one way or it is another. Now, that being said, you may believe a Thing is one Way and I may believe it is Another. And therein lies the Rub. If WE do not RESOLVE this difference in Opinion regarding this Thing, particularly if WE is a LARGE group of people, WE have what is commonly referred to as the proverbial Gray Area - a Thing that Someone has yet to make a Decisive Decision regarding a Thing's Nature. Once that Decision is made...no more Gray Area. Lots of disgruntled people for sure, but no Gray Area. Back to my being a dick...it is a shortcoming for which I have no cure. (And I've sought cures from the requisite sources. I'm just not willing to give up principle, knowledge, and understanding to pander, acquiesce, and cow-tow in order to met the requirements of some arbitrary social norms established by people that typically have no idea where those norms came from and hate having that fact and the source pointed out. So, I'm a dick.

And who takes a black eye to prevent someone - ANYONE - from receiving 5 to 25 CENTS off the price of a doughnut! The issue isn't what the guy demanding the discount wanted and whether or not he deserved it (My opinion, and it truly is irrelevant, the guy is a total shitbag that doesn't deserve shite. He ought to be taken out and "Taught" his manners and the way in which "Men" behave and conduct themselves in public and when doing business, no matter how insignificant.) However, the issue is not the guy and what he did. The issue is the Store Clerk and what he did. Had he simply smiled, given the "supposed Vet" his discount, thanked him for his "service", and sent him on his merry way...the "Vet" is happy - well, as happy as the guy is likely to get, the customers in line are happy as they are going to be served in a timely fashion AND they have not HAD to be FORCED to witness ANOTHER RUDE and OBNOXIOUS incident between two childish Americans who have more than they ought and less than they should, and the company is out a whopping 5 to 25 cents (whatever the discount came to). Get real here folks. The guy didn't demand the Store Clerk remove his nose ring or convert to another religion or remove his clothes or hand over all the money! No...I'm a Vet. I want a discount on a doughnut. For which a Store Clerk took a Black Eye to defend the Store's Honor and Dignity to prevent him from getting.

As to the "Principle" of the Veteran's Discount...comes from the same thoughts and perceptions as giving Cops free coffee and doughnuts. There is no way our pay and allowances comes close to covering the hours we put in to do our jobs nor reimburse us for the sacrifices we've made - never mind the hazards we put ourselves in way of (and that's without considering combat...I cannot imagine what, well, horrors for lack of a better word, those who entered combat zones faced and lived through). A Veteran's Discount is a small way the Merchant's have come up with remind the Veterans of their appreciation for their service...for what they have done to maintain the freedom they enjoy - Merchant's mind you, not the General Public nor the Employees of a Company, The Owners' who take the cost of the Veteran's Discount out of pocket (well, most or some of the time anyway). Any you do enjoy freedom. You have things SO much better here in America by accident and with little to no thought than the MAJORITY of people on this Planet have after SIGNIFICANT HARD WORK and the expenditure of RESOURCES THAT THEY COME BY DEARLY! You do not know birth defects or childhood diseases like MOST people on the Planet. You do not know starvation or privation or hunger or living a life that is so barren and so bereft of ANYTHING beyond Water, Food, Shelter, and Clothes that the idea of others living such a life right NOW, TODAY...your first thought is that I lie. It is not true. But it is, unfortunately, it is. And it is the US Military that provides a PORTION, not all, but a portion of the reason for our situation. Travel, SEE the world. Not the HOT SPOTS and Tourist Traps. Get out and about and see where the people really are and how they really live. You will NEVER be the same.