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[deleted] t1_j1ewjiy wrote

Reply to comment by ipsissimus666 in Churches that allow sleeping overnight in their parking lot? by ipsissimus666

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1exbhr wrote

If I had other options I’d choose them. I pick up litter for fun.

I’m not an asshole, I just don’t earn enough money.

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[deleted] t1_j1exvhy wrote

[deleted]

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1ezo12 wrote

I know it. I just got back from visiting with family all over the country.

The price is worth whatever it takes.

The tap water actually tastes good. There’s hardly any crime or murders. People here are genuinely caring, and they take hard work and achievements seriously.

I’ve lived in several areas of the country, and I don’t want to go back.

I’m not trying to live on Beacon Hill or in Back Bay, or even in Boston proper for that matter. MA is my home.

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septagon t1_j1fbdzf wrote

My dude you say you work 3 jobs yet live in your car, surely there's a spot in a cheaper col area that has good tasting water AND you can afford an apartment. Life is too short to go on like you're doing.

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Graywulff t1_j1ffkea wrote

Yeah western mass is where the water comes from. It was a lot cheaper than boston when I went to school out there. I’m not sure what rates are like now though.

Just check western mass Craigslist.

What jobs do you do and what’re you skilled at? Edx had a sliding fee where you can take their classes at a library and get a verified certification that shows up on LinkedIn in a ton of different subjects and sometimes these are almost as good as a degree but practically free in comparison.

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1fcl68 wrote

I know you’re right, but I don’t want to give up. I started my company as a sole proprietorship 11 years ago. I have been working towards starting a life here for a long time.

I want to prove I’m good enough to make it here, despite whatever hardships.

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septagon t1_j1ffi2m wrote

Well what is it about your business that wouldn't work somewhere else?

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1fgidl wrote

The people and trust. Here people know who I am; what value I offer; and what it’s like without me.

Sure I could start over in another market, but then I am nobody. A stranger with some testimonials from another state and maybe an obscure reputation.

It’s took years to build the favor I have here. There is no replacing it.

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septagon t1_j1fhd9y wrote

Well like, I have nothing but respect for the grind and I don't know you even in the slightest but I have to ask... If all that favor and reputation and testimony can't get you an apartment around here what's it's actual value? Would being a nobody BUT having a roof over your head actually be a better situation someplace cheaper?

It's just like... You really seem to be arguing hard in favor of a really uncomfortable situation that you don't have to be in. Something isn't adding up here.

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1fj7wh wrote

I really struggle with work and value.

I have 12 employees. They all make $20-30 an hour. It’s still not enough to live and prosper on. The only reason they get by is because they have family and friends and significant others to pool resources.

I can’t pay them more, and I don’t have a plan for their upward mobility. It’s gutting because I want them to have assurance that they can grow old and survive. My salary (when I was paying myself) from the business was pretty much in line theirs, even though my job less physically demanding and taxing.

It didn’t feel right.. Particularly through the last few years.

I don’t know what I’m ‘worth’, and through that job and my two new ones, I simply don’t earn enough to make it on my own.

Is it normal to arrive at 50 years old and have roommates and failing health and no considerable retirement? I mean well, work hard, and do my best for people… But the results are what count, and I can’t produce any more.

I don’t know how to advance from here. If this what I’m paid, this is what I’m worth I suppose. But it’s not enough to really live.

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septagon t1_j1fk4zm wrote

Idk man I've never run a business so I'm not going to make any assumptions, it just strikes me as really strange being an employer of 12 and still not making enough ends meet to have a roof over your head. I'm left here scratching my head about that I just don't even know.

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1fkj71 wrote

No worries.. For sure it doesn’t make any sense, and it is completely my own doing why I’m in this mess.

I appreciate you listening and sharing all the same. Life is confusing.

All the best to you.

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septagon t1_j1flnln wrote

If you want to listen to my unsolicited advice from someone who's never walked a mile in your shoes here it is: if you're struggling to provide a living for these employees and failing to provide a living for yourself it might be time to throw in the towel. Some businesses need major changes or just stop making financial sense, I wonder if that's where you're at.

There's parts of the country that don't get brutally cold, that have COL half as much as here. Cities like salt lake or the RDU area or maybe up in the Pacific Northwest like Bend or Spokane. Where you can get a non stressful job that lets you afford an apartment and then work things out from there. I'm just spitballing of course that's just probably what I'd be thinking if I was in your shoes. Regardless, I wish you the warmest of holidays and if you've got nobody to vent to, just dm me here.

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Graywulff t1_j1fgygp wrote

What kind of company? Are you on the section 8 waiting list? If you’re not get on it asap. Also action for boston community development, abcd, knows all about housing and resources. I’m in an affordable unit bc they helped me find it. It’s still 1410 but I applied for section 8 a long time ago and I eventually got it but I have a really nice place now… so it’s 30-40% of your income instead of the full price. It doesn’t cover what apartments cost in boston unless you have affordable housing.

Western Massachusetts is beautiful, it’s where the water in boston comes from, there is virtually no crime, other than students being students.

Plenty of beautiful trails and stuff. Plus there are a lot of camping areas right around amherst, I remember Greenville being cheaper, maybe if you had a couple of room mates out there?

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arch_llama t1_j1fkmlu wrote

You would rather live in your car in MA than an apartment somewhere else?

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ipsissimus666 OP t1_j1fl7u8 wrote

Yes. I have family in the south and out west.

I don’t want to be there anymore. There is a reason people want to be here over other places.

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arch_llama t1_j1fmeul wrote

Weird. Well be careful. If you loose your income you might fall into a hole that you can't climb out of. Maybe reconsider your plan to risk freezing to death in a car because you like the taste of the tap water.

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hellno560 t1_j1g4sia wrote

why so nasty? OP has the right to exercise their autonomy and make decisions that maybe you don't agree with. Get over yourself.

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BQORBUST t1_j1exb78 wrote

Oh yeah if this is real why do police officers idle all the time?

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eladts t1_j1exeqw wrote

Since when does the law apply to police officers?

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TekJansen69 t1_j1eykar wrote

There's a whole YouTube video on why police have to idle their cars, and how they prevent the car from being stolen.

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BQORBUST t1_j1eyr3i wrote

Wow sounds like bullshit

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TekJansen69 t1_j1ez0c3 wrote

Maybe. But they say it has something to do with the high power drain of all their equipment.

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BQORBUST t1_j1ez3r9 wrote

3 minutes ago it was about the car getting stolen.

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TekJansen69 t1_j1f2ebr wrote

I meant they have a special mechanism that keeps it from being stolen, even if the engine is running.

I know ACAB, but the idling thing isn't their fault.

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septagon t1_j1fbppu wrote

It's just another one of those rules nobody enforces. Like the dirt bike kids or jaywalking or shoplifting small amounts.

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