The place was dusty and dimly lit. Smoke filled the room. The door opened then closed and Jay sat down at the bar.
“What’ll you have?” the bartender asked.
“Coffee” he said as he pulled off his coat and gloves.
A hot ceramic mug slid towards him.
He wrapped his hands around it, the steam rising up warming him.
A few minutes later the door opened and closed again.
An older gentleman walked over to the bar and sat down.
Jay looked up, “Hey”.
“Hey. Why did you invite me here?”
“How’s mom?”
“Good. Did you get your home loan approved?”
“Not yet.”
“Well get it done! You gotta take responsibility for your life son. When I was your age I was married to your mother, had a house, a truck, a job and gone to school.”
“They said I need a cosigner, 720 credit score, a year work history and a front end ratio of 28/36.”
“What the f’ you jest say? You’re talkin’ all chinesey.”
“The front end ratio and back end ratio is what the bank uses to determine how much you can afford for a loan for house. If you make $1200 a month and the back end ratio is 36 and all else is approved the maximum amount approved for a mortgage is $432 per month.”
“What are you talking about? Get your shit together son. Take responsibility for once in your got dam life.”
“I’ve been working with Ned doing construction for the past 10 years. I didn’t set the housing prices and I didn’t set the wages. If you do the math you’ll see that rising housing prices have priced a vast majority out of the mar-.”
“Don’t give me none of your shit. It’s your fault for not having money. I always said it when you were growing up and I’ll say it again. You’re lazy. I got up every day at 6 and worked till 5 at Brookshire auto factory for 40 years.”
“You’re saying I’m lazy? You don’t even do basic math. The times have changed since you were making your way.”
“I don’t need to do the math! If you don’t have a well paying job then your job is to hit the streets. Go door to door until you find a job that pays.”
Jay sat back from the bar. Took a deep breath and sighed.
The phone in his pocket began to vibrate.
“Excuse me a minute.” he said and stepped out.
Jay stepped back inside and looked over at the empty glass.
“How many drinks have you had?”
“None of your business.”, was the slurred response.
Jay looked at the bartender and the bartender looked at him for a brief second and then went back to cleaning the mugs.
Jay sat down. His beverage now cold and sighed.
“How much was your house?”
“$100k”
“That house is going for $500k now.”
“How much were you paid?”
“$6.50 an hour”
“Adjusted for inflation that’s $24 an hour. The minimum wage today is $7.25 an hour. ”
“You said you went to college for $1100 per year.”
“Yep”
“It’s now $30k-$100k”
“If you want to go back to school now how much will it cost you?”
“For me it’s free.”
“Uncle Dan said you got a DUI when you were in college. What was the penalty?”
“The first time the guy gave me a ride home. The second was 3 days community service and $100 fine.”
“Today, it’s up to $10k fine, 30 days to a years suspended license and the limit is half, that means that’s two drinks.”
“How much was rent when you were going to school?”
“$200 a month”
“In the same area it’s $1800 a month. Adjusted for inflation it’s 3x as much.”
“Did you have to have a job for 6 months to get the apartment?”
“No”
“Did you have to earn 3x as much on rent to get the apartment?”
“No”
“How much was the car that you purchased?”
“$3000”
“Adjusted for inflation the same car and related expenses like insurance it would cost 30% higher.”
“To get your CDL when you were driving over the road for a few years did you have to take a 3 month $10k course or have as many restrictions?”
“No”
“Were you able to declare bankruptcy for school debts?”
“Yes”
“If you were sick how much was it to visit the hospital?”
“$20”
“It’s $250 to $10k per visit depending on the services you use. A Tylenol is $90.”
“If your account went over were you charged $35 per overage?”
“No”
“If you couldn’t find work were you denied unemployment by race or age or gender?”
“No”
“If you were on welfare did it ever run out? Were there limits on it and means testing?”
“No”
“You did recreational drugs. Did you have harsh draconian penalties when you were experimenting with drugs?”
“No.”
“So why the f’ are you giving me shit calling me a failure when you had all these breaks? If you had to do the same conditions I have now you wouldn’t be able to do it. You wouldn’t be making enough for any of it. The least you can do is admit it.”
“FINE! You’re right. But I don’t care. I got mine.”
“And you’re ok that there’s poverty and homelessness?”
“Not my problem.”
“But you support everything as it is now? You support the way things are? You’re against changing it?”
“Yep. Don’t care.”
This is a fictional story obviously, based on talking to nice people online. The financial figures in this post are rough based on all the prices I’ve come across when traveling and working across the states.
Everyone knows that the costs on the coasts are higher than in the midwest. But when you have to go to where work is you have the option of no work or working where costs are astronomical. You can’t move to a lower priced area if work in a high priced area. You have to deal with those costs or not have work.
