Because isn’t that what everyone wants? No one wants to be told that they need help. It’s a much better feeling to have something to offer. That’s why I do what I do, isn’t it? And I don’t really think I’m quite so unique in that basic need. I glanced at the clock. This time, it was my turn to remind him of the promise I had made and I let him know that my five minutes were up.
He thought for a minute, considering me carefully, and then asked, “Do you know anything about credit reports?”
“Sure,” I replied, “what do you want to know?”
I found out that Alan’s dad had used his name and social security number to take out a credit card, had run the balance to its maximum, and never paid it back. He had applied for a full time job and had been screened out by the bad debt on his credit report. Later, I discovered that Alan had grown tired of getting smacked around and screamed at and eventually he hit the streets after wearing out his welcome on the couch’s of his friends’ parents. No one ever bothered to file a runaway report. He was fifteen when he left home and by the time I met him he was almost nineteen, living in transitional housing, working part time, and actively taking steps to pay off his debt and save for an apartment of his own.
I’d like to think I gave Alan some useful tips for going about that process more successfully, but I was the one who learned something that day. He hadn’t taken days to prepare any worksheets or exercises or spent hours on the computer developing an inspirational spiel to impress me, but Alan had been waiting a very long time to teach me the lesson I didn’t even know I needed to hear, and he needed to be heard.
* All names have been changed.
(Part 1) | Part 2
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