When I was a much younger fellow I was involved in an incident that should have netted us a whole bunch of trouble. We were out on the beach at a park breaking

When I was a much younger fellow I was involved in an incident that should have netted us a whole bunch of trouble. We were out on the beach at a park breaking about every rule in the book: ad-hoc firepit during a burn ban, setting off fireworks, open alcohol where "No alcohol" was clearly posted, underage drinking, etc. A park ranger happened upon us and was none too pleased with our activities. He had us pack up our stuff and follow him back to our illegally parked cars and I was certain a large fine would be our very best outcome. He started lecturing us as he collected each of our IDs but the moment my friend handed him an active military ID the mood instantly changed. He started talking about how nice the nature was and sent us off with a warning. Blew my mind.