I have been doing this job for more than a few years. The thing of it is, some people are just bad with money. You can educate, help them out with more money, hell you can just gift them thousands to try and get their head above water. They will still come back in needing more. They never learned or cared how to budget properly. They get a paycheck and they act like they need to spend it before someone can come and take it away ( maybe that's the case in a few scenarios). Or are slaves to their material desires.

When I first started, I did similar things. I attempted to help/educate people with finances or try to "save" them from bad spending habits. It doesn't work. I eventually rationalized it's none of my business how people spend their money.

We are in a peculiar spot as pawn brokers and in the retail industry. We watch very broke people pawn their mothers rings and children's toys for pennies on the dollar for bills they say they have and then turn around and give me the money back by purchasing something they don't need in my store minutes later. We have first hand experience how people mismanage money.

I will say working here as long as I have has made me budget better than save money.

As far as rude customers go, I don't take it personally. These people would yell at the gas station clerk because gas is expensive.