Discount my ass

This really isn't anything new, but it gripes my ass just the same. The object of my pissification is the so-called "military discount". I've been trying to help my daughter-in-law find someplace decent to stay near Ft. Benning until they make more permanent housing arrangements. Now granted, my experience with temporary lodging is pretty limited. I've been lucky with Air Force bases- at Luke, I've gotten Visiting Officers Quarters and a studio apartment. Both were pretty great. But I've also been to Benning, and the temporary lodging there just plain sucks. Olson Hall is a nightmare, there's no way you could put up there for any length of time. The rooms are the size of a broom closet. Benning's such a busy base, you know there's got to be alternatives. So we've been looking for some extended stay places. The one I called sounded pretty promising, right up until we started talking rates.
Their weekly rate for basically a suite/studio was $398 a WEEK. Pretty stiff for an E5's pay, so I asked what their military discount would be. And this is when I got pissed. $398 comes to $42.70 a night, not bad for a motel rate, but if you're talking for a month's time, that's one hell of alot of money. But with the military discount, the rate goes to $68 a night. That's right, the rate is actually higher if you're in the Army.
This isn't the first time by any means I've run into this, but it pisses me off to no end that you can end up paying more by being military than not. People see government money and play to the lowest common denominator. I wish 1)folks would realize just exactly where that money comes from when they're so willingly ripping off the military and 2)who in their right mind thinks it's okay to rip off G.I. Joe or Jane in this way? Not like they've got it to spare!!!