Thank you for your service

[dapaterson]

I have been known to say "And thank you for your support".

 

[Ayrsayle]

On a personal level, it does make me feel uncomfortable when it happens. 

I rationalize that I'm not likely being directly thanked, but that someone is in appreciating the service the military provides.  I'd thank a great number of people in uniform for their service, just feels odd to be thanked personally.

Either way - I agree its important to appreciate the gesture period, regardless of the personal feelings on it.  It is far easier to accept the kindness then explain why it shouldn't apply to you.

 

[kratz]

I've always politely thanked them for their support.

From the feedback here, it reassuring to hear others have discomfort
when being thanked for doing our job.

 

[Kat Stevens]

"My pleasure" is the shortest polite reply I could come up with. They feel glowy, I don't feel greasy, win win.

 

[Jed]

I never heard this sort of thing from anyone in Canada until after the first Roto into Afghanistan.  In the 80's and 90's my own family's attitude was you signed up for your own reasons, why do you need thanks?

After that, I had a few people want to buy me a coffee etc. and I have to admit it felt rather weird. The first time I actually felt good about it was during a large event down in the States where they asked serving members to stand, to receive the crowd's thanks.

I'm not in uniform so much anymore so it rarely comes up.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

It makes me feel uncomfortable, mainly because I haven't done anything to warrant any sort of thanks...Literally, I haven't done anything. Obviously, the individual making the comments isn't aware of that and I generally smile, say something polite in return and that's that. However, there have been a few instances where people are insistent upon a gesture of gratitude of some sort and it's personally very awkward for me.

 

[daftandbarmy]

It makes me feel uncomfortable, mainly because I haven't done anything to warrant any sort of thanks...Literally, I haven't done anything. Obviously, the individual making the comments isn't aware of that and I generally smile, say something polite in return and that's that. However, there have been a few instances where people are insistent upon a gesture of gratitude of some sort and it's personally very awkward for me.

I had dinner at a local restaurant in uniform and, when it came time to pay, found out that someone had kindly paid for me.

I gave the waitress some cash and asked her to 'please spend it on a customer who looks like they could use a little help, unlike me'.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

I had dinner at a local restaurant in uniform and, when it came time to pay, found out that someone had kindly paid for me.

I gave the waitress some cash and asked her to 'please spend it on a customer who looks like they could use a little help, unlike me'.

I love that and wished I had been as quick on my feet. I recently had an incident occur while out for group lunch, but the individual approached me personally, in front of the rest of us, and wanted to pay for my meal alone. She had reasoning for why she only approached me, which she explained to us.  But I was very uneasy, even more so having been singled out. I smiled, as usual, said I appreciated the gesture very much, but in turn offered her the suggestion of making a donation through other means, so that it could benefit everyone. She wouldn't have it. She was paying for my meal and that was that. (I received friendly chuckles afterwards from a few I work with, because they could see how uncomfortable I was.) The woman wasn't taking no for an answer, and of course, politely declining can only be done so many times. It was the first time I'd been in a situation like that where the individual was extremely insistent. She paid for my meal, but I didn't think of exactly how to pay it forward at that moment, I said thank you and we left.

 

[Haggis]

I always respond "Thank you for your support". It is an equitable response and both sides walk away feeling good for a bit.

I did exactly that in a Subway last week.  The gentleman paused, then went on to point out how he supports the CAF but not our political masters, and we parted ways.

 

[mariomike]

Nicer than hearing, "I pay your salary.". 

 

[Haggis]

Nicer than hearing, "I pay your salary.". 

My response to that is "Well, I pay taxes, too, so I guess that makes me self-employed."

 

[kev994]

Nicer than hearing, "I pay your salary.". 

Ask them when our back pay is coming

 

[Ayrsayle]

Nicer than hearing, "I pay your salary.". 

I've used the "Since you pay my salary, I'm buying this round" justification on occasion when insisting on paying.  Actually haven't heard that one directly to my face, but I suspect the sentiment is still around....