Focus Group Hating on Veterans

Date: 10/11/2020

I was part of a focus group with other people I went to high school with. We were shown a news clip. The reporter was a veteran and he was wearing a military uniform. He reported on a fireworks show and then a long clip played showing the viewers the fireworks. I thought they were really cool. The focus group administrator then had us all anonymously respond to how satisfied we were with the fireworks— either satisfied or unsatisfied. I answered that I was satisfied. The administrator then revealed that everyone except one person (me) voted unsatisfied. She then told us that the reason we weren’t satisfied was because the reporter was a veteran, and veterans make people uncomfortable and on edge. I was so confused. She said veterans exaggerate everything and employ great histrionics and nobody likes to be around them. She said “In this clip, a normal person bumps into a table. See how they react.” She played a video of someone bumping into a table and wincing lightly and going “oow,” and then walking on. “Now see the same situation but with a veteran.” The veteran walked into the table, screamed in pain, fell over the table, flipping it and causing serious destruction. “See how they made a scene? That is typical and inherent behavior of a veteran.”