USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Pancakes on Wednesday ~ 12 November 2003

Canteen FRiends ~ Radix and LindaSOG ( Thank you LindaSOG for all that you do out here.

[Fawnn]

Me!!! #200!!!

[fatima]

Snow:)Kathy in Alaska,I am glad you can post the picture.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

We're having our annual sail: Miles from any body of water, a boat rams a shop in Tolnanemedi, Hungary. Blame the tow truck driver, who failed to secure the brakes of the vessel's trailer.

Oops!

[HiJinx]

Reminds me this picture. Billy Joe was testing out his new dual purpose pick-up and boat anchor!!

[Hondo1952]

Tonight was my night to have my boys. I had an interesting evening. I decided to pay back Golden Corral for feeding all the veterans Monday night. After we got seated and started to the buffet I saw the manager and went over to talk to him. I told him thank you for what you do every year. His response blew me away. He said that since the word didn't get out to everyone about it being on Monday that they did it again on Tuesday. I was shocked.

A lot of companies have signs out saying "We Support Our Troops." My question to all of them is very simple. How? What do you do? Feed them? Send them things they need and can't get? Take care of their families? Or do you put up a damned sign for your ego. Next time you go in a business with a sign like that ask them what they do. I want to find out what response people get. I started doing that today as I was prowling around town. Mostly the response I got was stunned silence. The other one was one I put in the mouth of the person I was talking to,"we give them moral support."

Now don't get me wrong. Moral support is a great thing. But if you are going to put up a sign then do something. Put your money where your damn sign is or take it down. Support the troops in a way that makes a huge difference. Send them something they need. Call a wife, mother, husband, dad and check on them. Offer to help and then do something. Write to a troop. They love mail from home. Anywhere in these fifty states is home when you are in combat. Those troops left home as kids. They come home as men and women. Do you want their support for your business? Do you want to sell them a burger, car or groceries? You might want to think about that.

I'm done. I'm mad as hell. Way to go Golden Corral. You Rock. You lead by example. You say the two magic words to the other businesses,"FOLLOW ME."

Sorry, out of character for me, but I just felt the need to get that off my chest.

[Soaring Feather]

The Canteen

As a light house beacon warns
a ship away from dangerous shores...
We in the USO Canteen FReeper Style
offer a safe haven for our troops and their families.
May God Bless our ship The USO Canteen FReeper Style.

bentfeather
9/05/03

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Thanks for posting your observations.
You bring up many valid points.
Hopefully business owners reading this will take your observations to heart.
Thank You

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Re post 205
I thought that was from the MoJo2001 School of Driving commercial.

[Hondo1952]

I meant to put an all or put my list in that. I didn't mean to vent everything on you. It's just amazing what the folks at Golden Corral are doing for the troops. The guys that come here for training at Camp Atterbury get their food for half price. They gave one group that was graduating from PLDC..Primary Leadership Development Course a free lunch. Thirty people at a buffet for free. That's a pretty hefty chunk of change. I made it a point to thank the manager for everyone and told him about you posting the ad here. He was excited to hear that. Maybe we have a new FReeper.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

I'd venture to guess there are many, many others like him that we never hear about.
Please tell him I said Thank You next time you see him.

[HiJinx]

There certainly are a lot of people out there like him.

You both have heard about Sears, right? They pick up the difference between military pay and their Sears pay while a Reservist or Guardsman is deployed.

And one of the big steak chains...was it The Outback?...flew steak dinners to Afghanistan. Those are two high profile supporters.

But Hondo, the flip side is also true. It's easy to say I support you. It's a different matter entirely to put those words into action. Maybe we can help change that, in our own corner of the country, in our own way.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Maybe we can help change that, in our own corner of the country, in our own way."

Yes, I agree.
It's all a grassroots kind of a thing.
What we see in the Canteen is a perfect example of this.

[HiJinx]

Yup, I was right...

Sherri Rutolo, an Outback Steakhouse employee from Salt Lake City, opens up packages of charcoal to ready the grills for thousands of steaks. A team of 15 people from the company traveled to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and served steaks, grilled shrimp, baked potatoes, French fries and “bloomin' onions” to say thanks to the military members there. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Melanie Streeter)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Above the clouds: A hiker treks above a foggy valley near Triesenberg, Liechtenstein.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Ouch! His boat anchor worked quite well, I'd say. And I would be scared spitless looking out the windows of my truck!

[Hondo1952]

I knew about Sears. I'm not surprised. They are a real, true American success story. I had not heard about Outback. One of the veterans organizations flew steaks out to the troops on a carrier.

I think if we all just ask "what do you do to support the troops?" we can make a difference. If just one more person gets a letter or baby wipes or chewing gum, anything, then we helped. If we all do it everywhere we do business and see one of those signs we can help at least a few more than we do already. What do you guys think. I'm thinking about writing a letter to the editor. We need to rally the people that are wavering in their support. We can do this.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"What do you guys think. I'm thinking about writing a letter to the editor. We need to rally the people that are wavering in their support. We can do this."

Yes, we can and must.
It's up to us to watch their back while the Stand the Watch.
I really think we also need to educate people that it's not just the combat troops that need support.
Each and every service man and women needs support.
Local business could, like the Golden Corral, "give" certain things to local service people.
I can say that as a business owner myself, my business partner and I, have given discounts to service people since Nov '97

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thank you, Sherri Rutolo from the Outback, for supporting our troops!

[Kathy in Alaska]

I'm sitting here at work waiting for the red taillights that form a parking lot on the road I take home to move. Here are two pictures of the house across the street from mine. Two days ago, the moose were eating all the bushes. Today there is snow.