This Boot Was Made For Walking

Okay:

Today was a dark and overcast one. Perhaps I should have stayed at home. But I pushed out of my apartment against my better judgement in the hopes of having a positive and productive day.

Part of my new job is to be the liaison between the Department of Employment and our student/employees enrolled in the city's Summer Youth Employment Program. The program was started by Mayor Marion Barry back in the eighties. I worked one summer through the program. I even lied about my age so they'd let me work longer hours. That's another blog in and of itself.

Anyways. A few years ago, they tried to get all new-age and electronic by giving all the kids debit cards. Their checks were to be electronically deposited every other Thursday at midnight. Of course, that shit never worked. Now every summer one of the leading stories is the thousands of kids in the program who receive partial or no pay. They flock to the Department of Employment in droves, demanding their money that they worked so hard for. Truth is, most of them end up playing Uno at some summer camp, which could hardly be considered work. Unless you're playing Deluxe Uno with all those new and fancy rules.

It's poorly disguised welfare at the end of the day. But part of my job is to raise sand when our kids don't get paid. So, today I went down to headquarters to see what was going down. But before I went I put $20 in my tank, which had been empty for two days.

I went in, asked some questions, got some answers, and got out of there within 20 minutes. When I rounded the corner where I had parked my car, I saw a District government van. Oh no, not another ticket, I thought. If that had only been the case.

You guessed it. I had been booted.

How much do I owe in unpaid parking tickets?

A whopping $980.

How much money do I have in my checking account?

Let's just say I've already spent some of this week's paycheck.


But let's look at the bright side. This is a pay week. And I've got some contracting money coming in some time soon. The proverbially ironic icing for my bitter bad luck cake is that I put $20 in the tank. I could've used that $20 to buy a bottle of cheap scotch in which to drown my sorrows.

In another twist of irony, I had just had a Come-To-Jesus talk with my sister, the stock broker, last night about my finances. I laid out all my debt. Student loans, car loan, personal loan, credit cards, backed up utilities, back taxes, and, of course, those unpaid parking tickets. Her professional opinion?

"You're fucked."

It was a productive conversation. We created a plan for my long road to financial recovery. 10 years, she estimates. Long story short, I'll be getting a third job soon. Bartending or something. I'll keep you posted as always.

In the meantime, I'll be catching the train to and from work. Not really a big deal. Except it's a fifteen minute walk to the train station from here.

Okay, pity party over.

I am, however, accepting donations to the Help Cool Cee Brown Get His Shit Together Fund. It's tax deductible.


Thanks for reading.


Download the new single "In The Kitchen"

Catch up with me at Twitter


GOBAMA!


Postscript: Also, I was under the impression that it was Wednesday for most of the morning. I hate it when that happens!