Fair enough. I called it a "slush fund", insofar as top sergeants always seemed to have money available when it was needed for good purposes like emergencies that needed to be met. And I recall having troops living on the economy in Germany where all they could afford was a barely-heated garage because they got so little pay, there was not any on-post housing to be had, and the mark exchange rate was really bad. And I had one of my squad leaders chaptered out for bad debts.
I also recognize there are a lot of sleazy folks surrounding every base, preying on junior soldiers. It's a given. But, if this kid doesn't know how to deal with that, either he wasn't listening or his chain of command failed him by not teaching him properly.
And, not to put too fine of a point on it, but "losing" your TA-50 at the back door of the surplus store is a good way to get the Army to give you an sort-of-interest-free loan for a month or so. It takes at least that long for a survey to hit your pay. He'd be back off leave and, possibly, out in the field where money is a lesser need.
All that said, the whole situation smells bad. As in "bogus". I have never heard of a pawnbroker who would loan money because he had a "good heart"; they hear every sob story the world has invented and survive as businesses only if they make money. "Good-heartedness" and making money are not mutually dependent - they might happen and they might not. To be frank, if I were the pawnbroker's landlord, I'd be making sure my security deposit was paid up and do what I could under the lease to make sure my rent was going to be paid because I'd be concerned he was running his business into the ground through bad judgment and this was Exhibit A of it.
But, if you want to give money to this, knock yourself out. It's your money, after all. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't want to be ratifying whatever got the soldier into this fix by ponying up my money.
Last edited by Dave in Maine; 12/23/11 12:36 PM.
