if you're looking for someone to thank, i'll accept it

I am attending a work conference this week and staying at a big hotel attached to the convention center.  The conference is very large and hundreds of attendees are staying at the hotel.  We all work in the child welfare field, so basically, we're totally in it for the money.

Anyway, at dinner tonight, I paid with my credit card, and when the waiter brought it back to me, he looked at me earnestly and said, "Thank you so much for your service."

I assumed that he could tell I was here for the child welfare conference, and while I don't usually get thanked for doing my job, I told him that I love it a lot and it really is such meaningful work.

And then he said, "May I ask which branch of the military you serve in?"

Wait, what?

Very quickly it dawned on my that he had seen the USAA emblem on my credit card and thought I was a veteran.  He was thanking me for my military service.

Oh man.

I told him that my father-in-law is the veteran, but that I'd pass along the thanks to him, and then my face turned redder than the spaghetti sauce I ate for dinner.

It's a good thing the view from my room is decent, because I may never leave again.