But what about officer safety considerations?
You're kidding, right! The only safety consideration I ever worry about is my own! We do have, at least, one '
payday loan outfit' here in town; but it's mostly used by workers without bank accounts and no place else to quickly convert their company paychecks into cash.
I have never used a '
payday loan' in my life. Even when I was a teenager I had a driver's license, a social security card, a bank account, a permanent address, and a number of rich relatives who ran several popular local businesses. Never a problem!
The magic secret to avoiding payday loans is to never spend more than you have. Quite honestly I think the additional 10 to 12 percent '
bites' these check cashing services charge are a clear violation of the scriptural admonitions against worker exploitation and monetary usury. (You know, "
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you!")
One of the women who raised me thought so too. She was a wealthy woman (a nationally famous church organist and pianist); and, throughout her long life, she loaned money out to both family, and other church members who occasionally needed help, and she never charged so much as '
one red cent' in interest. (She was a devout Christian fundamentalist who appreciated what she had, and knew how to use her brain as well—rare qualities, indeed, today!)
My Aunt Ethel was just an all-around amazing woman; and, quite possibly, where I got my own personal and business ethics from. She used to play the organ at
Riverside Church in NYC. You should have heard the organ at Easter and Christmas time. That uplifting spiritual music could bring tears to your eyes!
But I wax nostalgic! I'll add one last important consideration: The first person's safety you have to worry about is always your own. If you forget this all-important fact then someone else's mistake just might end up getting you badly injured, or worse! When it comes to personal security, you should never offer the other guy any information that he doesn't really need. Why? Because he might, very well, end up misusing it. THAT is why!
(Have you ever seen the look on a cop's face when his partner calls out, "
Gun!" Hint: If this ever happens, you do NOT want to be the one wearing that gun!)