An old theory of mine was that the quality of food in the mess hall was directly proportional to the girth of the mess sergeant. If you had a skinny mess sergeant the food usually sucked, except for breakfasts which were difficult to screw up, although they tried.
Sadly, our mess sergeant was as skinny as a rail and he, too, had some shady deals going on. We were supposed to get steak once a month or so, but they usually ended up in the trunk of his car. That was the rumor; maybe we weren't supposed to get any steak at all.
There was something about the military life that encouraged a lot of wheeling and dealing, just like you see on TV and in the movies. Schemes were always afoot, guys working an angle. Supply sergeants and guys in the motor pool were considered particularly sketchy, but I have no direct knowledge. Could just be more rumor.
But one pal of mine had a very lucrative business lending money, "20 for 25." You could borrow twenty bucks and repay twenty-five on payday. Business was brisk; at the end of his tour he was clearing a couple of hundred a month and never had to spend any army pay, which he had been saving. When his ETS (expiration of term of service, for Uncle Ken) arrived, he shut down his business and went on a spending spree. High end stereo equipment, cameras, electronics, and a BSA Victor motorcycle were all on his shopping list, which were all dutifully shipped to the US, courtesy of Uncle Sam. E-5s (rank) and above had their stuff shipped back home gratis, regardless of quantity. Quite a deal, and not bad for a guy who was drafted.
Another buddy of mine bought a Datsun 240-Z, just when they first came out. Very sweet car, and it was also shipped back to the states, free of charge. Rank had its privileges. He had a tough army job, teaching ceramics at one of the Special Services craft shops. Civilian clothes required, naturally.
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I was never a big fan of Ralph Nader because his book killed the Corvair. He was correct in his assessment of the handling problems, but they were corrected by the time the book came out. Pre-911 Porsches (and VW Beetles of the same era) had the same problem due to the rear engine/swing axle arrangement, but they were just considered tricky to drive, requiring skill.
But Nader was right on the button regarding the secondary impact of auto collisions, with the occupants flying around inside the car. Hence, the federally mandated installation of seat belts in US cars in 1968, a couple of years after Unsafe At Any Speed. Funny thing is that seat belt usage wasn't required by law until the mid '80s. New York was the first state to require you to buckle up. You had to have them, but you didn't have to use them for fifteen years. God bless America.
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Another fine debate last night; this time I was listening to Mahler on the local classical music station. It looked like a reasonable and polite situation, with only a few interruptions by His Orangeness. He did appear tense, though, clutching the lectern and looked a bit unhinged in the last half hour.
That's what I thought until afterwards, when I tuned in the local news and went online. Christ on a crutch! In the parlance of barracks talk, "He stepped on his dick!" Of course, he thinks he won the debate, and bless his pointy little head. Delusions of his sort are unprecedented. He will fail, his businesses will fail, and it won't be long until he is just another shabby old guy feeding pigeons in the park, forgotten by all. One can only hope.
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