It Took a Melt-Down to Get Me a Payday Loan

The economic downturn will never touch me, I thought.  This is the story of how I was saved by  payday loans. Here I am, ordinary citizen of the world, nobody special and not the inventor of the wheel!

I live in the mid-west in a modest home with my wife, three kids, a dog and a mortgage. I am an engineer working for a good company and most of the time involved in interesting projects. On the weekends I spend time with my kids. Sometimes the whole family goes out for a picnic and we eat a lot and have a great time. I not only enjoy my life, I love my life. I wake up in the morning wanting to go to work, unlike some of the other guys in the office.

The earth tremor

The first signs that something was happening were news articles in the local papers. I eat early, before the rest of the family so I read the paper while I eat. The articles were all about sub-prime mortgages. I had to look this up on Google to understand it. “A financial term popularized by the media during the “credit crunch” of 2007 and involves financial institutions providing credit …” I shrugged. Doesn’t affect me, I decided, as I buttered a piece of toast. Off I went to work, happy that there were no waves around me. In the office I was told that some firings would be announced. I would not be among them. I was also not affected by the credit crunch. With Mary working at the hospital as a senior theater nurse, we didn’t even have an overdraft.

The stock market fall-in

I heard about this on the train going home. The guys were crying about how much they had lost in a single day. I smiled. I do not play in the stock exchange. At home there was a letter from the bank announcing that my mortgage rate was going up and the interest on my savings was going down. There was also an ad from a Personal Money Store offering a Payday Loan service. I smiled and shrugged. Who needs it?

The edge of the wave touches me

The General Manager called the staff together the next day and informed us that the Harley Project had been shelved. “All engineers working on this project will receive letters at the end of the day.” I was working on it, but only in the area of the security systems, almost as a sub-contractor. “You have enough other work to keep you busy, so you remain,” he said with a smile, shaking my hand.

At home that evening, Mary told me that the oven in the kitchen had blown out and that the repairman had quoted approximately $1,000 for the repair. “We have to eat,” I smiled as I poured myself a scotch. The following day I received a demand for some unpaid taxes that I thought had gone away. I nodded, but did not smile this time. Mary reminded me that we have 3 weddings to attend, all neighbors. “We have to go Tom, and there are the presents…”

The wave gets me

Now it was too much and I couldn’t cope with it. The bank refused to speak to me and then I remembered the flyer from Personal Money Store offering  payday loans. I called and the rest is history. I am a confirmed fan.