This isn’t isolated to the VA. I was in the ER at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, CA recently and I was asked the very same questions. The ER gambit is a real set up, because generally when you are in the ER, it’s not for a hangnail. The best advice I can give is bite your lip and give them very calm, deliberate negative answers. I don’t think it’s even wise to confront them on these questions, because you have no way of knowing how they will interpret your remarks and report them. Just another group, like cops and firemen, with whom you want to have very limited conversations if any at all.
You know, I have been saying for some time that it’s NOT the “Spirit of ‘76” that we need to reignite. It’s the “Spirit of ‘75”, that led to ‘76.
It’s about time that our government started fearing us, rather than us fearing them.