We live in an extremely surreal time that has replaced the present.

Unfortunately, the government has not provided a clear explanation for what has happened. It seems that the authorities have forgotten that people were born to live, not to become victims of political and economic fantasies.

Meanwhile, the number of impoverished citizens has increased over the years of "reforms." The military is among them. They have long been living below the poverty line.

Life is especially difficult for young officers. Many of them have families. The more than modest salary, which is often paid late, is used to buy bread and potatoes with cabbage. The officer's family doesn't dream of anything more. Some people accept their difficult situation, while others look for ways to get out of it. They take jobs as security guards or laborers at warehouses and industrial facilities. There are other options as well. One of them was shared with me by a student at an elite military academy. His story shocked me. In our way, it's a shock!

Not in a faraway kingdom, but in Russia, exhausted by "reforms" and crises, there lived Major Sergey Tereshchenko (the name has been changed at the officer's request). He had a beautiful wife and two sons.

Sergey doted on them, loved and cared for them. He would have taken the stars from the sky for his family. He would leave at dawn and return when it was dark. This was the way of life in their family: Sergey served, and Natalia, his wife, took care of the children.

They lived happily until trouble came. Trouble knocked on their door, as it did for many people, on the ill-fated day of August 17. It took away all of Sergei and Natalia's modest savings from the bank, leaving their family penniless.

The husband was upset with his sweetheart, but there was nothing he could do. He had to move on. But how?

The father of the family started looking for a second job. He found one. His friends from the faculty helped him get a job as a warehouse loader.

...Six months without straightening his back, Sergei dragged boxes and bags at night-and broke down... "Who needs such a worker now?" he thought to himself.

... Once again, a black streak appeared in his life, without a single ray of light. The family's financial situation deteriorated day by day, and their debts grew. One day, Sergei purchased a newspaper called "From Hand to Hand." As he scribbled down possible "side jobs" with a pencil, the desperate officer came across an advertisement from the "Violet" agency. This "blooming" company invited men with kind hearts to engage in an interesting and sensitive task. It didn't say what kind of business, and there were no hints. At the end, there was a phone number.

Sergey had absolutely nothing to lose, so he called. He was invited to an interview and a test. Sergey passed all the tests: he was honest, good-natured, and had a sense of humor.

They offered to work once a week, on weekends. They promised confidentiality. They would take you to your destination by car. They would also pick you up. The payment was in dollars. Sergey agreed.

The only problem was that I had to buy a bright-colored wig and makeup.

"Why?" asked his wife, who had been asked to buy these items. "For work?"

... Natalia left her children with a neighbor and rushed to the shops to buy a wig and makeup. On the fifth day, everything was purchased. The neighbor, noticing the strange items in her friend's bag when she came to pick up her sons, became curious and asked:

"Are you going to visit?" "Yes," Natalia answered confidently. What she couldn't say was that from now on, her faithful was working as a (mind boggling!)... call clown.

Since then, Sergey has been entertaining children. And not just any children, but children from wealthy families.

He was taken to Barvikha mansions and Ussov dachas, and to the apartments of the capital's prestigious neighborhoods. Everywhere, the officer in his clownish guise entertained the "powerful of this world."

Sergey visited some of them several times, because the spoiled children asked their rich relatives to bring them "Goshka with a red nose."

Yes, that's what they called him in the homes of the privileged. The "bourgeois" didn't ask for his name or surname. In fact, they didn't want to know. The key was to make the child laugh, and you'd get paid!

They paid quite well for the call - \$250! 120 Sergey gave to "Violet", who had thrown him a "life ring" in a difficult moment.

When visiting the "noble nests" of the new Russians, Sergei tried to be gentle and kind with their children. However, the children often responded with cruelty. They might slap Sergei, throw a dart, or be rude. According to Sergei's account, one particularly obnoxious child enjoyed beating him up. This "angel" had grown up without a mother. Instead, he was surrounded by action movies. On Saturdays, the boy's father would "hire" a clown for his son. When the clown arrived and entered the room, the mischievous boy would attack him with a hockey stick and beat him up. By the end of the encounter with the shameless youngster, Sergei's body was covered in bruises and abrasions.

The father of the little demon in the flesh didn't pay attention to what his child was doing. During the calculation, he was surprised to see Sergei: "Bruises? Oh, well, it's nothing. Here's another \$5. Buy some Troxevasin, and it will go away." It was as simple as in an advertisement.

There was another incident. After it, our hero's hair turned gray. Here's the story.

One fine Sunday, Sergei was brought to the dacha of a State Duma deputy. The deputy himself was absent. Sergei was greeted by the deputy's wife, who led him to the children's room. Sergei played with the child and made him laugh.

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The case was nearing its end when a black BMW with Duma plates suddenly entered the police station. A deputy and two "security guards" got out of the car.

The deputy didn't immediately enter the house. He was calling someone on his mobile phone. The bodyguards stood slightly behind their master, like two milestones... It was quiet around them. The deputy's shouting broke the silence, followed by an argument.

After an unpleasant telephone conversation, he entered the house, flushed with anger, accompanied by the "loyal nookers". And the first thing I saw was my daughter with a clown...

Oh, what a mess! He called his wife and started yelling even louder: "I told you not to invite those clowns to our house!"

The wife was making excuses. She was doing a poor job, mumbling and being timid.

Meanwhile, the deputy turned his gaze to Sergei and ordered his "guards": "Take this buffoon away from here, so that I don't have to see him."

Two big men grabbed Sergei and put him in the trunk of a foreign car. Then we drove for twenty minutes on some country roads, until we braked in the woods. Then the "escorts" took out Sergey. They didn't let me go right away. We decided to make fun of it, to remember the special forces past. For half an hour they beat the unfortunate man with their hands and feet. Sergey even gave himself away, said who he really was... It didn't help. The big men didn't believe it:

"What kind of officer are you? You're a decorated monster." The thugs extinguished their cigarette butts on Sergey's hands and spat in his face. In short, they mocked him as they pleased.

But soon the brothers got a little tired and decided to throw the exhausted man into a ravine with nettles. And they did.

... Sergey spent two hours lying in the ravine. He crawled out. With an effort of will, he forced himself to get up and walk along the forest road. It took him an hour to reach the highway. He quickly caught a car. However, the driver stopped when he saw Sergey, who was barely alive.

The man was on his way to Moscow, and thank God he was a decent person who didn't take advantage of Sergey. He dropped him off at his apartment building and didn't charge him a single penny.

Back at home, with a bandage on his head, he called Violet. They promised to investigate and compensate for the damage "in monetary terms." However, this remained just a promise.

Still, there was something to be happy about that day: he hadn't been killed, and he didn't have to go to university. It was summer break.

Natalia asked her husband to stop the "clowning around": they had long since paid off their debts, and their financial situation seemed to have improved. However, Sergey did not leave the agency and decided to work a little more.

Continuing to entertain the "lordly kids", he increasingly encountered rudeness on the part of the moneybags. My nerves were on edge. The last straw that filled the cup of patience was a trip to Vykhino for the birthday of the son of some "Caucasian kebab shop".

For some reason, the family celebration was held in a three-room apartment instead of a restaurant, as is customary for visiting highlanders... Sergey was pushed into the room with the children, with whom he spent a couple of hours babysitting... The session was coming to an end. The officer reminded him about the payment... However, the host shocked him by saying that Sergey would not be leaving. It turned out that the "shashlychnik" had called "Fialka" and arranged for a day's work for Sergey.

After dark, the guests left. The children were put to bed. Sergei was left to watch over them.

Two of the owner's brothers from Baku decided to spend the night in the apartment. However, they had no intention of sleeping. Instead, they went out for a walk. When they returned, they were accompanied by Vykhino's "night butterflies." To make things more entertaining, they invited a clown to entertain them.

They were rejected. Then two "dzhigits" tried to do by force what they did not achieve with words. Fists rained down on Sergei's head. And he, angry, pushed away the rowdies, broke out into the corridor and ran into the bathroom. The offended brothers were about to break down the door, but the owner, who got up to the noise, calmed the relatives.

The officer stayed in the bathroom until morning. He opened the door for the landlady, who wanted to wash her face. She let him out of the apartment, giving him 200 rubles to get home.

This was Sergey's last trip. Today, he doesn't "hack"anywhere. I'm back to what I was trying to run away from a little over a year ago.

Unfortunately, such cases are not uncommon today. Desperate officers are willing to do anything. Do you think that being a clown is the most humiliating job? I'm here to tell you that it's not. In an issue of "Army Store," there was a report about how young lieutenants were making extra money in their free time. What a job they had! They were performing their acrobatic and other skills at a strip club. And this outrage was spinning, you won't believe it, on the central TV channel!.. And the logic here is simple: it is necessary to somehow sweeten the life of a serviceman roughened by the charter and discipline. Thus, the authors of this story unwittingly helped those who hate the army, who want to turn it into "funny" regiments, who give the Russian officer corps a place - where would you think? "near a pile of bird droppings. And I wouldn't be surprised if in two years ' time someone says:

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"Officer-rabble, goal perekatnaya!.." And some already do not hesitate to draw parallels between the words "officer" and"beggar". This is usually done by people who can be called singers of "democracy", those who are satisfied with this swamp. Who are they?.. This question was answered by the hero of our story, who shared his impressions.

"These citizens," Sergey said emotionally, "make up a rotten mass that has bloomed like poisonous flowers around us. Yesterday, they were worthless and empty, perpetual underachievers who didn't want to work or study honestly, but now, sensing their time, they have adapted to it. They've acquired golden chains, fat faces, and shiny skin..." All these modern-day NEPmen are merchants, businessmen, currency exchangers, private security guards, "scam artists," "shashlik chefs," prostitutes of both sexes, and countless non-productive "businessmen" whose only purpose is to rob and deceive others. Their insolent, greedy, glaring eyes, their ruthless, idiotic faces, which appear at every turn, merge into one vile mug, nurtured by the "reforms" carried out in Russia.

According to Sergei, this is the kind of environment that officers and their families have to survive in. As you can see, there is no help to be found. No one knows what will happen next. One thing is clear: if the government does not start taking care of the army in the near future, the number of clown officers and loader officers will increase significantly. And they will be commanded not by generals, but by criminal elements.

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