Female veteran reportedly gets shamed for parking in veteran-reserved spot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mary Claire Caine, an Air Force veteran, says a note was left on her car for parking in a veterans-reserved spot. (WECT.com)
A North Carolina woman who served in the Air Force said a note was left on her car criticizing her for parking in a reserved spot for veterans and believes the note's author assumed she was never in the military because she is 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,” Mary Claire Caine, who served in Kuwait, told WECT.com. "They have this image of what today's American veteran is and, honestly, if you've served in the United States military, you know that veterans come in all shapes and sizes. I question whether the person who left the note was fully aware of that."
The station reported that the letter was taped to the passenger window and was written with a Sharpie. The note read, "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." The note was signed 'Wounded Vet.'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She told the station that she wanted to talk to the letter's author and even began to question if she was worthy of parking in the spot. She waited by her car to see if the writer would emerge from the store, but no one ever came.
"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 said.