Jimperfections

What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it?

For me, it was the time while living in Colorado just after I lost my job. Although, it probably started just a bit before that. I was a little fast and loose with money, and put myself into a not so good position. Not that I knew it at the time.

The first red flag was when I went to get a soda from the fast food place nearest my store. Back in the mid-nineties, Colorado was a bit advanced and most places took credit cards. This wasn’t the case back home in NY. Anyway, I didn’t have cash, so I pulled out a card. It was declined. For less than two dollars. I pulled out a second card. It, too was declined. At this point, the girl waiting on me felt so bad that she just told me to take the soda.

Not long after, I lost my job. I was unemployed for just over a month. But it was devastating. I ended up having my car repossessed, and had to sell quite a few of my belongings to stay afloat. It was not a fun time.

I eventually added up all the debts. It amounted to about $20,000. That amount was accrued in only 6 months. It took me 15 years to pay it all off. While that whole time wasn’t the worst, that initial year or two after losing my job was definitely the “hard years”.