Fighting With An Arm Tied Behind His Back
A guest post by NYCityBoy
Bloggers love to sit on blogs and discuss what is going on in the world. We read the garbage being pumped out by the mainstream media and critique their objectivity. I believe most of us believe that their efforts are juvenile, disingenuous and in general a complete joke. Everybody is a victim to the mainstream media, regardless if it is CNN, The New York Times or CNBC. They just choose different victims. The depth of their reporting is appalling. It does not seem like their reporting resides in the real world.
When I was told that I would be given an opportunity to be a guest blogger on the HBB it was a great honor. But I had to think of what I wanted to do. I decided that I wanted to bring my experiences to the blog and the experiences of regular people. I will be doing a series of interviews with “regular guys” that might give everybody a better understanding of what is going on in the real world. The first interview in this series is my interview of Jason, a guy that feels like he is fighting with an arm tied behind his back.
I have known Jason since 1997. It was back in my days living in St. Paul, Minnesota. We worked in the same building and developed a friendship. Although we did not work together I could tell that Jason was a hard working and responsible person. You could tell that he cared about the job that he did and took pride in doing a job right. His co-workers did not take nearly as much pride in their work. Jason always reminded me of a guy from a bygone day. I could have pictured him working on a railroad or plowing a field behind a horse drawn plow. He is not a big man but he had a heart that shouted out his rugged individualism.
I left Minnesota in 2000 but kept contact with Jason over the years. He changed jobs after I left. He was making more money. He had a new girlfriend. Things seemed to be going very well for him.
A few years ago Jason hit a rough patch. The bank that he worked for was snatched up by a larger bank. The corporate bank did away with many long time employees. They also did away with Jason. The relationship with his girlfriend ended. Jason found a new job but at a much lower income level. Shortly after this Jason got a DWI. This caused him to lose the job he had.
I could tell that all of this had been difficult for Jason. He could not drive. Finding a job was difficult. He was without a job for nearly a year. During that time he did something that the Jason I knew would never have done. He went into debt. He lived off of credit cards and got himself into a hole. Eventually he found himself in debt to the tune of $25,000.
We all have a unique story. Jason’s story is unique but it is not unusual. We all hit rough patches in life. Many of us are seeing people that have gone through their own rough patch. Getting out of that rough patch can be even more difficult when faced with the prospects of digging out during the worst economic downturn in 80 years. As the wizards of Washington try to bailout “homeowners” (and banks) it does nothing for guys like Jason. They need an economy that has decent jobs. They need an income that can allow them to dig out. The Federal Reserve talks of an ending recession and stabilization the way they do in this article. It is easy to speak of recovery from the terrace of an ivory tower.
Jason does not expect anybody’s sympathy. That is just not the type of guy he is. But I wanted to share Jason’s story so we can see what regular people are facing. Jason is just a regular guy and this interview sheds light on what regular guys are going through during this time. Let’s see if he agrees with Bernanke and the positive crowd.
Have you made any attempts to use a third party to help you with your debts?
Yes. I used an organization called Campos Chartered Law Firm for debt consolidation. I was paying them $423 per month. It had got to be $4,799 before it stopped. I didn’t even get a phone call from them to let me know that they were getting shut down. They went into receivership.
Did any of your money ever go toward any of your debt?
No. I didn’t read the fine print. The first year all of the money you sent them goes into an account. I didn’t know that the first over a year went for legal fees. The first 16 payments, or something like that, went towards fees. They never mentioned that during our talk.
Do you remember what they said they could do for you?
I can’t remember how much they said they could get it down to. They said they would take my debt and once I got enough in my account they would start negotiating. There were too many papers, too many little tiny frickin’ words. They said it would take four years to get paid off through them. They stated that they could help me get my debt paid off in 4 years. They said it would take 50 years if I made the minimum payments.
Now that Campos is out of the picture have you been able to deal directly with the card companies?
No. I’ve been dealing with their collection lackeys.
What do the lackeys tell you?
They tell me that they need $7,000 odd dollars now and they would call it even.
How much do you owe on this card?
I think I owe twelve on that one.
So, they will deal with you?
Yeah. If I had the money I could get rid of this sh*t right now.
What has the other company offered?
I can’t remember. They call every three months. In September I will get calls from both of them. One of them is going to try to up my payments.
Have you thought of bankruptcy?
No. I’ve been told that that is not a good thing to do. I have not looked into it. I know my credit is not good now but I don’t know how much worse it would be if I declared bankruptcy. If they force me to, I guess I will.
What do you do for a living?
I clean carpets. I work for Oxy Magic of Minnesota.
What have you seen in that business lately?
A downturn in the number of people that are” wanting” to get their stuff done. It’s not the people that usually do it regularly. It’s the people that need to get that sh*t done. So, the jobs are getting fewer and they are getting worse.
A lot of people are talking about the recession being over. What do you have to say to that?
(It took him a minute to stop laughing at this question.)
Until I start getting my 15 to 18 jobs a week again I just don’t think this economy is going to be right. I’ve gone from 18 jobs a week to 6 jobs a week.
How do people in your situation get caught up right now?
If I knew that then I wouldn’t have any problems, if I could figure that out. I might have to find a second job. That would not be easy since I don’t have a set schedule. Today I got done at 1:00. Last week I had a night where I didn’t get done until 9:30.
Have you looked at a jobs section lately?
Yes. There’s a lot of jobs in there (while laughing).
What are you seeing?
There’s stuff there. But the stuff there is not worth my time or I’m not eligible for it.
Do you feel like a victim?
No. I brought this upon myself. I have no one to blame but me. But some of it may be the economy that I can’t make the kind of money that I would make normally. I’ve always taken responsibility for my actions.
How do you feel when other people act like victims and expect the government to bail them out?
If you are going to play the victim card and you have resources to deal with things on your own but you choose not to use them then you are a douche bag. That is all I can think of. If I was to sit here and say, “woe is me. It’s all somebody else’s fault.” I would then say go hang yourself. If you aren’t going to take responsibility for your own actions then go jump off a f**king cliff.
If you screw up and you’re too p***y to admit it and you just blame other people for it then screw yourself. Admit that you’ve done some of this to yourself.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Yeah, if my buddy would get off his ass and buy a bar that we can run, then I could get out of this problem.
Jason wanted to add that anybody looking for a hard worker should give him a call. I can vouch that he is a hard working guy. This is just one of the many regular guys that has slipped through the cracks as we bailout banks, rework mortgages and talk of “green shoots” and recessions that are over. Without good paying jobs more and more holes are going to get deeper and deeper.
