Reply #7: I have always thought it ranked up there with "Have a Nice day" [View All]

[SoCalDem]

People abhor silence and seem to always "need" to say "something", in almost every circumstance, so "appropriate" phrases have been developed over time..

How are you? (they really don't want to know)
How's the family? (see above)
What have you been up to? (see above)

Thanking a service person is something they have been trained to think that is a necessary greeting to use...especially if no one in their life is serving/has served.

Since there is not a draft, it's thanking them for doing a job they volunteered for, so it's probably more appropriate (even if it seems a bit creepy at time)

But you cannot ask someone if it;s okay if you thank them, so I guess military people will just have to accept the gesture, unless they want to tell the people to knock it off:)