Submarine Currency
From a reader:I am a current JO who just came back from my first underway. One thing that I observed is that energy drinks have become the new "currency" on board. Need a hair cut or some paperwork by the end of the day? A 5 Hour Energy, Monster, or Red Bull will help get the job done quickly. In addition, the value of these items increased as the patrol wore on. I would be interested to hear from the group regarding how things used to get done (cigarettes, coffee, hard candy...)What was the most popular "currency" on your boat?
posted by Bubblehead @ 7:39 PM
7 Comments:
Smokes, Copenhagen, chocolate
Mountain Dew - near the end of mission in 2004 a can would be clearing $15 profit
Lots of Trident gum, different flavors. It took up less space and a piece of gum was an even trade for a cigarette. I didn't smoke off the boat, but those chaotic turn overs and long patrols brought out my inner smoker.
I stashed a big pound bag of M&Ms in a little hiding place and forgot about it. I auctioned it of for $26 at halfway night.
Back "in the day" it was cigarettes that fetched the highest price (very few restrictions on smoking back then) followed by M&Ms.
A carton of Malboro's stashed in the back of the bunk pan were hot commodities, issued a cigarette at a time. Nothing like having a bit of leverage with the watchsection COW, or my LPO when it came to field day in the AMT I pit. When the spec op got extended because of the Iranian hostage crisis, the value of a single pack rose exponentially!
Mountain Dew and M&Ms back in the 1980's.
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