Search Results for: three-alternatives-to-a-budget/slow-carb-diet-how-to-avoid-going-bat-crazy/how-to-complain-the-squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease/first-3-things-to-do-in-the-new-year/budget-lesson-part-5/contact-me/brown-bagging-your-way-to-savings/medical-costs-and-choices/subscribe-by-email/3-things-you-need-to-know-about-homeowners-insurance/travel-expenses-why-i-splurge

Saturday night, as I was walking out of the pizza place, I saw a beautiful young brunette standing on the sidewalk talking on her cell phone.

As I walked past, I heard, “I could pay my rent if they’d just give me my last paycheck!  They owe me like $200.”

That’s it.

Have you ever heard a tiny piece of a conversation and used that to build a back story in your own mind?

I do that all of the time.

In fact, I’m going to do that now.

First, what  can I know from those two sentences?

• She was unemployed.   She was more worried about her last paycheck than her next one.
• She had worked for a scummy, fly-by-night, something-or-other.  Good companies don’t withhold paychecks.
• She had no emergency fund.   If she had one, $200 would be an inconvenience, not a disaster.
• She rented, and had roommates.  This conversation occurred in the parking lot of a pizza place in a reasonably affluent suburb.   For $200, she wasn’t living alone.  Whether she rented a room or shared an apartment would be a mere guess.

Those items can–I believe–be taken as fact, given the evidence at hand.

Now for the conjecture:

• She was a waitress.   A $200 final paycheck probably means her hourly wage was low.  Besides, pretty, young, unskilled girls often become waitresses.  It’s one of the few ways to make good money without a degree of any kind.
• The restaurant wasn’t a chain.  Chain stores have lawyers and procedures.  They don’t withhold final paychecks.
• She invites drama into her life.   When you work for a company that makes a habit of shady practices, like withholding final paychecks out of spite, you know it happens.  It’s not a surprise.  If you continue working there, you are just waiting in line for your turn to have problems.
• She wasn’t close to her family.   In an emergency, $200 from Mom & Dad is nothing.   In my mind, she only has one parent and isn’t close to that parent, but that’s purely invention.
• Her friends are in the same boat.   Short-term planning, no reserve cash, no room to let a friend couch-surf for a couple of weeks.
• Next month, she’ll be having the same problems, but she’ll find someone else to blame.  Her ex owes her money, or her roommate stole the last of her cash.

That’s my entirely unsupported guess of a young stranger’s life story.  My opinion isn’t flattering, but how could it be, when $200 is enough to make the young woman panic?

Have you ever played this game?