Tonight as I began to think what I wanted to address next, I had an idea. What would my audience want to know about the military? The military in general is not easy to comprehend. (Trust me I have been around it for two years and I still do not fully understand.) Instead of jumping into all the topics I want to take you on a journey. I am attempting something different. Instead of posting to convey the lack of support for the military, I am going to put you in the front seat. I am going to structure my blog as if you are an actual military family member. I am going to create real situations that the servicemen and family face each day. These situations will be frustrating, but I can not think of a better way for my readers to understand. Anyone can read about these situations in newspapers, and afterwards forget about them. I am willing to create this journey, and although risky I hope you get better insight.
Your role—A military wife
While at home with your husband and newborn baby, you receive a phone call. The phone call is for your husband and it is his Master Sergeant. He receives news in 48 hours he will be deploying to Iraq. Your heart sinks knowing your other half will be leaving in two days. In those two days tons of preparation will need to take place. Bills need to be paid, finances need to be mapped out, and things need to be packed. The top two things on your mind are finances and how you are dreading the moment when you will depart from your husband’s arms. Then you begin to think what if. What if you get the knock on the door to discover your husband has been killed in action (KIA). You try to force those terrible thoughts out of your head. How will you provide without your husband. All of a sudden you’ve become a single mother for six months or more. Financially how will you manage? The military already pays nothing and without the ability to go back to work things will be really tight.
In reality this situation is not unfamiliar to military families. Unfortunately, most families are in debt because they rely on cash advance places in order to keep up with bills. This is the price they pay for serving their country. If any of my readers have been to Oceanside you know exactly what I’m talking about. Oceanside is south of Orange County where Camp Pendleton is located. (Camp Pendleton is one of the largest Marine base.) In the town of Oceanside there are cash advance places on every block. It is the equivalence of a Starbucks on every corner. The sad thing is the cash advance places make tons of money off of the military. The military is forced to go to these places in order to support their families. What is more disturbing is how these places rip the military off. After researching the average fees for borrowing money, I discovered most cash advance stores in Oceanside have an APR rate of 460.08% for the military. This is outrageously high! If you don’t believe me please visit this website, https://www.checkngo.com/stateDisclosures/California/Finance_Charge_Schedule_(English).pdf ) or do a Google search on cash advance stores and look up their APR rate. This is how cash advances make such a large profit, and how the servicemen are trapped into the perpetuating cycle of living pay check to pay check. Supposedly cash advance stores are to be used for short term. However, it appears military families use them on constant bases. This brings up two issues. The military is not paying enough for families to survive on their pay checks, and the cash advance places are taking advantage military families.
Despite the fact cash advance places are ripping the military off, most of these stores claim to support the troops by having decorative windows with yellow ribbons. How is ripping these people off supportive? Again as I said to the Oakland Airport and now to these cash advances places, SHAME ON YOU!
The Troop's Advocator
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