When Rebecca Hayes came out to her car on Monday after shopping at the Coddle Creek Harris Teeter, she discovered a note criticizing her for parking in a spot reserved for veterans.
“This parking is for Veterans, lady,” it began. “Learn to read and have some respect.”
Hayes, a Concord resident, is in fact a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
In response, she turned to social media.
She shared a captioned photo of the note on Facebook, beginning it by saying that though she doesn’t normally use the spots reserved for veterans, Monday was a hot, busy day, and the spots were available.
She continued:
“I’m sorry that you can’t see my eight years of service in the United States Navy. I’m sorry that your narrow misogynistic world view can’t conceive of the fact that there are female Veterans. I’m sorry that I have to explain myself to people like you. Mostly, 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.”
She concluded by asking the author of the note, “I served, did you?”
According to a report by WBTV, Hayes believes the note was left because she is a woman and didn’t fit the typical veteran stereotype in her business-casual clothes.
Hayes told WBTV that her husband, a veteran of the U.S. Army, has parked in a veteran parking spot before. However, the most feedback he has received is a “thank you for your service.”
“Veterans come in all shapes, sizes, genders and colors,” Hayes said in a phone interview with WBTV.
