Being a young new Sailor, and being from Butler GA meant I had to experience a learning curve often a common course of a naïve country boy. As we were raised to believe most folks are good and honest, and stealing was equal to having sex with your sister,.....you just don't do that.
Well, I learned a great deal those first few months in the Navy attending school at Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Millington TN. I learned that there were indeed thieving scumbags that will stealing and destroy your things. I learned that no matter what a person says, or how they act, it can be a front to set you up to let your guard down. I learned to "lock your locker" meant to ALWAYS lock your locker.
And as a result of making less than $450.00 a month, and recovering from a thief roommate, I discovered that one call go downtown and sell a pint of blood for a whopping ten bucks. And more importantly was, they wrote the record in pencil, which meant I could eat a lot of food and go sell another pint. Hell, it was like having a part time job. Bottom line, a pint of blood money can ease the financial pain to the next payday. If Mama only knew.
