Responsibilities and Issues
Even though my life seemed
to be moving in a positive way and things were working out the way they should,
I never once left behind the thought that at any given time, something could go
afoul and muster a world of dust. What I mean is reality. No matter how much a
person tries to avoid reality, it never goes away. Just when it seems like
everything is fine and dandy, something will inevitably jump up and bite you
right in the ass.
I have never been fond of
banks. Past experience has led me to believe that they are just not
trustworthy. At this point, I must at least have a checking account so I
figured; what the hell. I might as well have a savings account too. That
ran into problems which I never anticipated. I learned really fast that when
automatic payments are set-up, that money must be in the proper account on
time. If it’s not, well, penalties are a sure thing.
This is when I realized how
little responsibility I had during the years I was homeless. Basically, there
were no bills that I could manage because I had no money. I could name all my
outstanding debts on one hand and have fingers left over. True, those are
fairly large bills and there was no way in Hell I could pay on them so
unfortunately they never reduced but instead increased in size due to interest.
The good part is I didn’t need to worry about the bills. The bad part – now I
feel that I must pay on them since I do have
income.
When a person is homeless,
and the only income gained is from flying a sign or working under-the-table
jobs, money goes for items used for survival. Comfort items are another item
that are often overlooked, such as deodorant, toothpaste, and items that
ordinarily would be considered hygiene. True, a large portion of the money goes
towards non-necessities, but for the most part it’s for sleeping bags,
clothing, food, whatever is needed for the basics.
I shopped around and found
a bank that I felt comfortable with so I had a checking and savings account
established. Since I was still fresh off the streets, I bit off a little more
than I could chew. The reality alarm sounded when ordering items online and
using a debit card, while signing up for direct payment on many monthly bills,
all collectively formed a fricken mess. Even though I had money in the bank,
there were times when it just simply didn’t cross my mind to transfer funds
from savings to checking to cover all of my purchases. It doesn’t take long to
realize that the end of the month rolls around rather quickly. By the third
month of having my bank accounts, website, cellular phone, etc., I visited my
online checking account balance and found it in the red, highlighting a
shit-pile of thirty-five dollar overdraft fees. Fortunately, my overdraft
protection paid these bills so I never received any of those lovely notices
that state; Insufficient Funds. A quick click or two of my computer
mouse generated a fund transfer from savings to checking to rectify the foul-up
but the fact still remained that the bank had paid these bills and also stuck
me for over a hundred bucks for doing so. Damn that hurt.
This happened a second time
when I found myself standing in front of the cashier at my favorite department
store. Talk about embarrassed, I felt like I was on top of the world, sporting
decent clothes and nice boots, whipping out my debit card like it was some sort
of fashion statement. Well, to me it was. Heck, I had never even used one, even
before I went homeless. I thought; I’m right up with the big boys now,
by golly! Then came the disappointing words from the cashier, right in
front of God and everybody, “Sir, this card has been declined.”
Shit!
I could feel my face turning
four different shades of red, including purple, as I tucked tail and headed out
the door. I never looked behind me until I hopped on the bus. After swapping
money around at the bank, I jumped back on the bus, went back to the same store
and gathered the same items. I made damn sure I found the same cashier to check
my items. I don’t really think it made a rat’s ass in Honky-Town to the cashier
or to anyone else that I did have money, but it sure did make me feel better to
whip out that damn debit card and pay for those items.
Until next time,
Kirk Toncray
