Story time....
So no s**t, there I was
In the early days of people having cell phones, I was one of the first joe's in the barracks with a cell phone. I had that nokia a lot of folks had, looked identical to this one:
Anyway, out at some training at AP Hill, I was put on the ammo guard detail. There was a trailer full of blanks (guards for blanks. LOL), concertina wire, and a radio that went unused. I was still excited about this phone, but it didn't work. I'd wager at the time there was no tower anywhere near AP hill, and now there are several on post.
So, there I am, looking at the antenna protruding from the power amp, running up into and wrapped around in the tree... and the lightbulb goes off.
I took the cap off the phone to expose the leads. Grabbed some spare wire, and twisted em together. Then i ran the other end into the input on the power amp, disconnecting the radio.
Almost instantly: 3-4 bars
Hallelujah! I can call .... well. My girl. My mom maybe? So i called both, mostly to brag about having a phone out in the middle of nowhere. After, the other ammo guard asked if he could use it. We had been out there a while. I was on a really awesome plan at the time, and worked out how much each minute was costing, and it wasn't all that bad. Then the idea hit me.
Joe likes phone calls.
Joe has cash because there's an ATM on AP hill, and a small PX
SO i did what any other enterprising joe would do, and started charging for phone calls. 5 minutes for 10 dollars I think. Or maybe it was 10 for 10. Whatever it was, it was profit.
I had a line. I got greedy. Suddenly a voice i couldn't quite place said "Can I get a phone call, tholdier?"
Wait a minute. I recognize that speech impediment.
It was the Sergeant Major. The look of pure hatred in his eyes haunts me to this day.
He made me give every single cent back to the soldiers who had made the calls. Then he smoked the *expletive deleted* out of me.
Then he gave me a coin for "being smart and motivated"
