Take a Vet to Lunch

Last year, like so many before, Veterans’ Day snuck up on me very quickly.  To be honest, I didn’t realize it was Veterans’ Day until I heard ManCow talking about it on the radio during my morning commute to work.  As it turns out, there is quite a high percentage of US Military Veterans where I work, and I found it almost embarrassing that I had let it sneak up on me like that…again.  So, I pondered the issue all morning…  What could I do to show my appreciation for the hard work, risks, and sacrifices that my co-workers had made?  Furthermore, what could I do that expressed my appreciation without being overly ceremonial…that’s not really my style.  So, I looked across the isle at Kevin, a former Navy man, and thought to myself…”self, take Kevin to lunch!”.

At 10:30AM, after he agreed to allow me the privilege of thanking him for his service with a $10 lunch, it occurred to me that it was so easy, and such a simple gesture that it really didn’t take any planning at all.  In fact, even on such short notice anyone could do it….so out went my email to everyone that worked at our site.

To my surprise, the whole thing was a great success.  Every single Veteran at our facility was treated to a thoughtful and appreciative lunch.  In fact, people were arguing over who was buying lunch for whom.

As Memorial day passed this year, I began to think of this year’s upcoming Veteran’s day and my plan to continue the “Take a Vet to Lunch” tradition started last year.  It was at this point that I thought I should spread the word.  My plan is to start with a web site, some simple promotion, and hopefully, by Veterans’ Day 2009, every living US Military Veteran will be taken to lunch.  My plan is to assemble some features of the web site that will help local organizers and send email reminders as the day approaches, while fostering a community and forum for other ideas to honor our vets.

It’s a very simple thing.  It’s appreciative without being overly ceremonial, and simple enough that most Vets will accept it without too much fuss.  I have found most Vets to be humble in their acceptance of any fanfare for what they consider to be a dutiful task, while themselves being almost aggressively thankful to others who have made similar sacrifices.

If you register on this site, I will try to send an email reminder so that you can carry out your own “Take a Vet to Lunch” program this year.  My plan is to post ready-to-print fliers and promotional materials here for people to use at their own place of work.