VET LOUNGE – Veteran’s Day is here. and we here at the Sundial are incredibly grateful to our student veterans past and present for their service to our country. With that said, our resident bro-vet Michael Figueroa has come up with a few ways you can thank a student vet for their courageous endeavors.

1. Absolutely tell them how much you like their tactical clothing. Often times student vets wear the same thing. They’re an unoriginal bunch. That bearded fella in your class that’s all inked up and looks 30 would really appreciate a compliment on his khaki American flag hat or his shirt that mentions something about being able to violently kill anyone around them.

2. If you see them driving around, make sure you ask about their car. They spent a lot of money to get that diesel pick up lifted as far off the ground as humanly possible. Dodge Chargers aren’t cheap either and that vet probably had a nightmare of a time qualifying for their 16% apr. If you talk about their wheels with them, it’ll take their mind off of how much debt they’ve incurred over the last several years.

3. Make sure you give them a hell of a salute when you see them. A proper knife-hand and a tight shoulder goes a long way in showing a student vet that you mean business in thanking them for getting through four years of standing in formation and getting blackout drunk in the barracks.

4. Ask them which branch they think is the best. There’s nothing a student vet loves more than the dick measuring contest that is “My branch is better for x reason.” This is most common with Marine Corps vets as they are without a doubt the superior branch, but its cute to see other branches try to measure up.

5. Challenge them to a drinking competition. This is a fantastic way to get a taste of what enlisted life is like. If you go toe to toe with them, you might be lucky to wake up in the morning. Drinking is practically a past time for most vets. At one point it was probably the only crutch available to them to help mask the pain they felt from seeing all of their high school buddies in college partying while they were spending their weekends cleaning their barracks rooms from top to bottom or standing barracks duty.

Written by Michael Figueroa, Staff Writer