Last week, I was having sushi with my Tai Chi instructor and notice a guy in uniform eating by himself, so I call the owner's wife over and ask her to add his meal to my bill. My boost is I got to buy a serviceman his meal and thank him for his service. I was actually hoping we could leave before he finished his meal but the instructor was in a chatty mood so he was done before us. He came over and said thanks and I noticed that he is an Air Force Lt Col.

The bummer was that as he was saying thank you, he also said it doesn't happen very often. We should all try and do something, however little, when we see our service men and women, police, fire, etc. At the very least, just a thank you is often very appreciated. Whenever I see someone in a uniform service buying coffee, having lunch, etc, I do try to buy their meal or drink for them. I have had quite a few graciously decline and tell me that just having someone say thank you is enough for them. We also get the kids involved in the collecting and buying of items to ship overseas and my wife knits socks for soldiers. After spending way too much money on expensive shipping, someone told me to just arrange to drop off the stuff on base and it will get delivered. That saves me $50-100 a pop in shipping! So if you send stuff overseas to our troops, hopefully that little information can help you too.