It only seems to be a US only thing. I assume it's because the military is such a big thing for the US where other countries just see having a military almost as a chore.

As a nurse who graduated in the middle of COVID (and was working in hospitals leading up to it), A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher was surprisingly healing read.

“You expect heroes to survive terrible things. If you give them a medal, then you don't ever have to ask why the terrible thing happened in the first place. Or try to fix it.”

gotta thank something, can't just let a stranger go about their day in peace