I work in health care for a large company. Our lunchroom is a very private place where bosses are not allowed and clients cannot see or hear us. Some of us are very loud. Every day is an adventure and learning experience.
Wild weekend parties and Monday hangovers. Which supervisor is a jerk (or worse). Who called in sick for a Saturday morning shift because they were still drunk from Friday night. Who on staff is dating who and who just broke up. A lunch room that is also a running soap opera.
People frequently discuss their personal money and spending issues and frequently brag about spending. A woman in my department was telling us the contents of a letter from her bank. She and her husband have an unsecured line of credit (LOC) with several thousand dollars of stuff charged to it. The bank closed the account and gave them a time frame for repayment. She rents in a bad, cheap neighbourhood, drives an unreliable old beater and has only put stuff and junk and dinners out on the LOC. Her unemployed hubby has several top of the line video gaming systems and he is the first one in line to buy the newest latest game. She was complaining that the bank took away her easy credit. They had always made the required monthly interest payment but had never paid on the principle. She can’t understand why the bank was closing the account. The best thing about the LOC, she told everyone, was that if you didn’t have any money to make the low monthly interest payment you could just transfer money from the LOC to the checking account and pay your monthly interest with that!
Another man was very excited because his bank had given he and his wife a consolidation loan so they now had room on their credit cards for a 3D television.
Yesterday some of the very young ones were discussing winter trips to cheap resorts in Cuba and the Dominican. One girl had maxed out her 2 credit cards and could not get an increase in the credit limits to pay the $650.00 for the fun winter getaway. She had a great plan! She was applying for 2 more credit cards and hoped to be approved so she could charge the trip on 1 card and charge the new outfits she had to have for the trip on the other card.
There are general conversations about trying to scrape together rent or car insurance money while they eat their take out lunch from the local sub shop and talk about the movie they went to last night.
I am not perfect. I waste valuable dollars that could be going to debt repayment of fast food because I am too lazy to cook. My credit is excellent. I am never late for a payment and my interest rates are low because of it. I wonder what interest rate the 3D tv guy got for his consolidation loan? I wonder how much the winter get away will cost the young traveller when all the credit card interest is finally paid? Will the trip cost her double or triple the original purchase amount?
Don’t worry about the woman who had her LOC cancelled. The bank is expecting her to make regular payments but they don’t have any money for that but they do have a plan. She is applying for credit cards so they can get cash advances to make the LOC payments. She does not like the cold and if they can get approved for a credit card they just might book a winter getaway to a cheap resort in Cuba or the Dominican.
some people are unbelievable! stories like that make me feel…not righteous…but at least that every thing is going to be ok.
My 30 minute lunch is never boring. I never offer comments other than say things like “that’s a shame” or “have a great trip”. I can just hope that they come to their senses and learn from their own mistakes as I try to learn from mine.
Wow, holy crap! Your co-workers are awesome anti-role models; financially anyway. Observe what they do and then act the opposite.
Unfortunately, I hear conversations like this all the time as well. For once, I’d like to hear someone brag about how they maxed out their retirement savings or paid off their house. I never hear folks talk about that!
A very nice woman in her mid 40s just made her last mortgage payment this month. She told me very quietly because she was feeling very pleased and proud but she did not want everyone to know because she felt they might be jealous. She and her husband will now be putting the mortgage money in to their retirement funds. I congratulated her but promised I would keep her secret.
The bosses have their own lunch area. I have always wondered what they talk about in there.
“The bosses have their own lunch area. I have always wondered what they talk about in there.”
My father-in-law was an executive at a company and he used to talk about his co-workers in the same way you talk about yours, just at a little different level. They would all try to outdo each other by buying BMWs and taking ridiculous vacations. The result was that many of them had financial issues despite making big, huge money.
BMW, Mercedes and Range Rover are all well represented in the boss parking area. I would imagine there are the same per centage of financially messed up people in the boss lunch room as in the employee room. The bosses just have bigger limits on their credit cards.
Lol, great post! Keep the stories coming about your coworkers. Even though you aren’t “perfect” it seems like your coworkers need you to lecture them.
I have to be very careful what I say about work. We all had to attend meetings this week to remind us about social media etiquette. It came with the firm reminder that if we posted about work on Facebook there could be professional repercussions.
Never mind then, I don’t want you to get into trouble. That wouldn’t help your cause.
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The mention is much appreciated and happily reflected in my daily viewership.
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