A (rather long-winded) story on being broke and unexpected generosity.



I've worked in the States a few times. One of them was while I was at University. My girlfriend at the time had fought her way through a series of interviews to get selected for one of these "student working-holiday abroad" type deals for the summer. Her father (quite rightly) didn't believe she would be able to cope and, while he was very much in favour of learning some tough lessons in life, didn't really want her to learn it a few thousand miles from home with no backup, so he asked me if I could somehow go with her. I tracked down the woman who was in charge of recruiting, "accidentally" bumped into her in the student bar, we had a few drinks etc and I managed to get a place.



I ended up stuck in Virginia, she was somewhere else but I forget where. Sure enough, less than two weeks in, she bottled it. Panic and tears, endless phonecalls etc. Can't hack it. Fair enough, I've got a working visa that isn't restricted to a specific employer, and I also get some much-needed pie after a whole fortnight without, so I made my way to her. For some bizarre reason, she decided she wanted to head out to Cape Cod because she had heard there was a lot of English students working in that area doing various summer jobs.



Right, off we go. Every last cent spent on a train ticket. Not a sausage to our name. Changed trains in (or near, more likely, I forget exactly) Washington. She was off making some tearful reverse-charge phonecall to her parents. It was fairly deserted so I was sitting chatting to some nice old chap that reminded me of a shorter Nelson Mandela with a beard. At the end of the conversation when our train was arriving, he wished us luck and shook my hand, in the process slipping me some money. Tried to turn it down but he refused to take it back.



While we already had the ticket to get to Hyannis, we'd not got anything to get us further. The guy gave me enough to get us the rest of the way to our destination and spend a night in a hotel. Next morning I went and banged on a few doors until I found work.



Now, the guy I ended up working for is another story for another, but he was a great guy to work for. I still remember him turning up on my 21st with a crate of Guinness and us getting rat-arsed together while trying to make an improvised barbeque and failing, but being too pissed to really care

Never even close. Started working summers at 13 and have only taken one summer off since then (during college). I worked every semester except one as well. Even after graduating, and being depressed about not having a real job for almost a year, I was still moving furniture and bussing tables to pay rent and bills.

Never had less than a couple hundred in my pocket since I was about 8 years old.

Had a year when I kept getting punched in the face by life. Feeding my son and I off of change wore me down. Promising jobs turned to shite, and shite jobs turned out to be filled already. Finding one dime in the street took the heat off for food that night. A grown man and a 5 year old splitting a ramen on closeout with some dandelion leaves is a sad state. Made it through though, and he looks back on that time as fun, go figure. Turns 18 in a week from today, funny what a buffer my child support could have been for us each month. Never took a nickel I didnt earn, and now I have a nice life and a nice wife.

Funny thing is that my father has the same stories, but I remember my childhood as being awesome

I have been, and it sucked. Though, I am probably stronger for having gone through those times.

No, but I have relatives and friends who were flat broke (due to dumb choices they made) I saw the way it screwed with their lives. I decided to be a little smarter with my money.

Same, but I also go to sleep scared

8 USD, $4.50 in Argentine postage stamps, to cover 300 miles of Patagonia desert ... and a collapsing Argentine economy.

Aside from a jeep back in the US, a 133MHz computer and monitor, some text books, an extra sleeping bag, and some miscellaneous clothes - everything I owned was in this photo.



The dog was not mine.  He was a stray who got in between me and 4 thugs who were set on robbing me in the middle of the night at a bus station in the town of El Calafate.

I had many weeks where this was my weekly meal plan :

+

Back in early 1980 I was going through parking lots searching for change on the ground. I would use it to by Tomato Soup.



I have gone broke but not lost everything a few times in my life (if you understand that). And was able to pull myself out of the hole.





Ed

Got down to about $5 when i moved out of my parents house in high school.

pulled into Phoenix, Az in 1991 in a beat up Datsun pu and 40 bucks

Unfortunately I am living this way currently.

I took a chance on a Heavy machine operator job a long ways from home. took all my possessions and money, moved up closer with some friends. Blew a lot of money I shouldn't have.

A week goes by and they laid all us new guys off because the part supplier canceled their  work contract with the company, so the need for extra help wasn't there. I applied like crazy around the area and found nothing. Now I'm back home without a cent to my name and thousands of dollars in debt.

Life is good.

Yep. After my last divorce. Thankfully the EE was there for me to sell guns and ammo I'd stockpiled over the years.  
It got me through and kept the power on until I found a decent job. Plenty of times I was able to eat because I had pop and beer cans to cash in to buy food and more cheap beer.

Well if you seen my atm receipt you might think the same however I don't keep much in checking, savings might surprise you though. Sometimes things are different than they appear.

Not when I didn't have other things to fall back on, like a barracks room and meal card.  Thank God.



Do you have any recourse?

In the situation now. I just got on a debt management plan on my credit cards to try to get the payments lowered and interest lowered so we can pay them off quicker. Young and dumb mistake..

Yes several times and probably happen again before I die.

Yes.  I was homeless, too.  I lived on the street and ate food from missions and even dumpsters.  My life was a wreck.  I had exactly one pair of pants, one shirt, and one pair of socks, plus a pair of shoes.  The shoes has holes in them.  I had NO money at all.  That was over 20 years ago.