YoungHeart1980!

I hope everyone is doing okay.

Oh my god! I have never in my career experienced someone in distress, not my co-workers. My co-worker is a pretty young guy in his 20’s, but not sure. What I do know is that he’s nowhere near my age. He could be my son. He has picked up lunch for me in the past and I paid for his lunch as a thank you. The little I know of him is friendly, everyone knows him, cheerful most of the time, and he does like to party. I hear his stories at times.

Today he walks into my office and tells me he’s not doing okay and puts his head down. He immediately tells me he’s hasn’t eaten and has no money, he’s in debt, has no money for food for himself and for his 3 cats. I didn’t think we were close, just friendly. He told me he didn’t trust anyone and doesn’t trust anyone else to ask for help. He was extremely embarrassed and felt alone. As soon as he said these words he bursted into tears! He was desperate and his family wouldn’t help because they criticize him a lot. He lost control and couldn’t figure out how it happened. He has over-drafted his account by six transactions and it’s now $35 times 6 transactions. It added up for him.

I tried to calm him down and of course I didn’t hesitate. I left work and went to my bank to get cash and gave him $100 until we got paid next. I also expressed to him the way he could pay me back was to get finance counseling and I gave him information on how to get help. I can relate to him except that I didn’t put myself in debt I actually went through hard times to be able to achieve where I am now. I put myself through college, worked full-time, and had little sleep, little food, and I also had to ask for help. Luckily my sister came to my rescue and I will never forget this time of my life. All the Best!