READING COMPREHENSION ALERT!!!!! The article says NOTHING about refusing service to "uniformed military personnel". It says it will refuse PURCHASES BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, which is a whole 'nother thing. I am sure that if the guy in uniform was buying something for his/her own use, Home Depot would happily sell it to him/her.
Choosing not to sell to a government agency (or any or all of them) is in no wise either illegal or unpatriotic. Its called FREEDOM, which, although we are rapidly losing same, we still have SOME few vestiges of.
While it is an expression of Freedom, and they are able to not deal with the government, I would say that under the conditions indicated, it is unpatriotic. They can't be complaining about government paperwork, there is none for cash purchases. I don't know what their reason for not dealing with the government, especially the military, is, but absent a better explanation than that given in the article, I would call it unpatriotic. If that supply sergent had to go farther or spend more of your money to satisfy his unit's needs, then that's just that much less they can do to accomplish their mission, under fixed limits of money and personnel.
If a 19-year-old boatswain's mate needs to run to Home Depot for a couple extra gallons of haze gray paint, I don't think he should be denied service. And until they're willing to treat our military at least as well as they treat any other customer, they don't need the business of this ex-Navy man. It's called the free market... I can shop where the military isn't rejected.
According to the article uniformed personnel can't even purchase items in cash. So much for letting them buy things for personal use. I'm all for limited government, but when hatred of the Feds spreads to contempt for the military, I'm not going to play along.
Please re-read the paragraph below.
One Home Depot associate at a store in San Diego said, "It feels weird telling some kid in uniform that I can't sell him 10 gallons of paint because we don't do business with the government."
Sure sound like they are going to not sell to military personel.
Didn't Home Depot align itself with PFLAG about a year or so ago?
a.cricket