Here’s a story about a relatively new friend of mine, someone I don’t think I’ve mentioned here before. Let’s call her Bella.
Bella is a divorced mom with two teenage kids. She gets child support payments from her ex-husband, but money is tight. She works at least two part time jobs at any given moment, and is always hustling for other little projects. That is what I love about her– the hustle. She will literally do pretty much any honest job, from bartending to babysitting, to hauling garbage out of someone’s basement. Her oldest child obviously picked up on this enterprising attitude, and has already started working, not just for her own pocket money, but realizing that her earnings will help support the household. Things are that tight.
Interestingly, Bella’s parents are quite well off. They seem to be a bit oblivious to money matters and don’t realize how much of a struggle it is for Bella to make ends meet. And Bella doesn’t want to ask for handouts. Their wealth means her kids get nice gifts once in a while, and go to their house in the Hamptons once or twice each summer, but Bella isn’t yet desperate enough to ask them for cash support, even though they’ve given big handouts to her siblings in the past.
Switch gears for a minute, to a dinner I had recently with another friend, who’s met Bella many times and known her for years, though they aren’t close. This friend, who I’ll call Henri, is very successfully self-employed. Though he was worried that the economic downturn could put him in the position of having to lay off some of his small staff, he’s actually landed some great deals recently and his business seems to be booming. He mentioned that he needed to hire a new bookkeeper and someone immediately mentioned Bella. Bookkeeping turned out to be among her many past jobs, so it seemed perfect. Since Henri and Bella don’t talk that often, someone else said they’d tell her about it and have her call him, and then asked “how much is the pay?” Henri answered “$90,000 plus bonus.”
At that point, my jaw dropped, and I wondered if I should apply for the job myself! I make slightly more than that now, but given the kind of growth Henri’s business has been having, I wondered if it would be worth riding his coattails! (And hey, I like counting money! And I even worked for a bookkeeper when I was about 13.) In reality, I’m not sure I want to be a bookkeeper– I think I was just shocked to realize how truly successful he must be if he can employ a whole group of people, many of whom are probably equally (or more) well-paid. I heard later that Bella was also a bit shocked– when she was told about the job and the potential salary, she seems to have gone into a sort of reverie, saying “$90,000? Do you know how much that would change my life right now? $90,000…..”
I would like to say that this story had a happy ending in which Bella and Henri were an employer/employee match made in heaven. But alas, Henri’s other bookkeeper might not be leaving after all. And Bella would have a hard time doing the commute into the city for a full-time job– her kids are at a tricky age to have to fend for themselves in a suburb without good public transportation. And who knows, maybe there was some awkwardness there? It can be weird to mix friendship and business, especially when there is such a disparity in circumstances. Bella is probably my poorest friend right now, and Henri is probably the wealthiest. It’s strange– but they both give me a lot to think about for this blog!
