A Soldier’s Life – a little prespective

Checking into the backgrounds of the young troops, Sergeant Rider was appalled to find that there was a definite correlation between payday, food, and the rest of the 28 days of the month. Selling plasma twice a week to supplement food supplies seemed like a terrible price to pay to ensure you could serve your country and protect your fellow soldiers.

Rider was disappointed to find so little guidance or history of the practice so he turned to the only records he always had access to, day or night, start or finish, real or well, you know? Getting a glass of wine to be sure he would have something to spill and catch a few times, He started going through the homemade personnel file he made for himself to teach himself how to prepare the records of others. Seems not a lot of people knew that Sergeant Rider was just a self-taught truck driver.

As the truck driver took a sip of the wine, a word caught his eye, blood, and next to it, not allowed. Now he had a reference he could use, so with another sip, he began to read the file about his career and how he had, in-fact sold his plasma to pay bills and provide food for his young family, and the shame he did not feel for doing what he had too, so his family would survive.

How could I not remember doing this? In the fort and state where my son was born. Where I taught myself to be an engineer, and not just a good one but the one that could perform in any event or situation. Except to remember selling blood.

Then he realized he had recorded this particular event because the bag tore and the lab tech could not give his blood back, minus the plasma. So he would not be paid or be able to give blood for a month. So he could not pay the bills, get the food, make sure everyone had what they needed.

A smaller note was attached to the page explaining his luck in getting a job painting a house after work, which almost made up the difference for the lost wages (blood money). The smaller note was just included to brag that he had learned how to paint a house just in time.

I don’t know why pride would hide these little know facts from me, but it feels like mine did…………I sure hope I didn’t jump on those soldiers too hard, especially now that I know I am a hypocrite. Hope the plane ride won’t take too long tomorrow. Looks like I will be taking some guys off extra duty, maybe buying a few beers. Anyway, it’s just me talking to the only one that I know will almost always agree with what I decide to do, maybe.

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