(NewsNation) — Many Americans have hit a brick wall post-graduation, struggling to find jobs, even with a college degree; while others are struggling financially due to student loan debt and looking for affordable rent. This has led to an increase in “boomerang kids” moving back home with their parents.
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I lived with my folks for a few months after I got out of the army, supporting myself with a full time job that paid a whopping 800 bucks a month, and making up the difference by hiring myself out for day labor on the weekends. I was trying to save up to move out but at those wages it was going to take a while.
As long as I was paying rent and earned my keep around the house, my old man didn't care if I stayed with them. It was just less yardwork for him to do, giving him more time to hunt and fish. Mom on the other hand, was giving me small hints that it was time to move on, shit like "Have you given any thought to moving yet?" or "Don't you have any friends you can live with?" and of course there was the time I came in for breakfast on a Sunday morning and she looked all surprised and said "What? You're still here?"
Mom never was known for being subtle. I moved.
A few years after that, I got into it with one of my bosses at the ammo plant. Things got heated and he fired me. I wasn't worried - I knew he was wrong, he knew he was wrong and upper management would know he was wrong when they came in at 7 AM, so I figured to get a call before long telling me to come back to work. For that reason, I didn't load my toolboxes up, just told the guards I'd be back for them sometime in the next few days. Then there was the fact that I needed to get the fuck out of there before upper management showed up at 7 so I'd at least have the rest of the day off. My biggest concern at the moment was trying to figure out how I could spin it to where I was at least partially wrong so I could get a lightweight suspension with some time off.
Anyways, as I was rolling out the gate at 6:30 that morning, Mom was pulling in to drop off Dad. She waved me down and asked why I was leaving, so I told her I got fired. No sense in lying about it, the old man was going to hear about it before he even walked the 50 yards to the machine shop.
Her reaction? She gritted her teeth, leaned out her window and hollered "Well, you're not moving back in with us! Don't even think about asking!"
Love you too, Mom.
