One of the good ones...

[BallardWA]

My husband and I have a small business that serves the building/remodeling sector. I realized around June that we were going down. No big work on the horizon, and nothing from Joe and Betty Backyard. Joe and Betty Backyard was the fond name we gave to our customers who were homeowners doing their own renovations. Joe and Betty had seen us through the last recession because they had home equity to work with. Joe and Betty are now as broke and desperate as we are. We tried six ways to Sunday to get a loan to save our business. No one is lending, if anyone says they are, they are lying. Our 10,000 square foot shop had a $6,000 a month rent, with heating bills that sometimes topped $1,500 a month in the winter. I called our landlord, who owns the entire city block. I told him our income was down 50%, but that we had a few jobs waiting to start. Was he willing to give us a reduction in rent? Turns out, he was. No landlord wants 10,000 sf sitting empty. He took $1,300 off of our rent and said to keep in touch. Well, here we are in November, and things have not changed. I have had a real estate agent evaluate our home should we have to sell it to avoid foreclosure. We have cashed in our whole-life insurance policy and put two payrolls on credit cards.
When I did our quarterly taxes, our income was now down 70%. Next come the layoffs. We have tried not to do it, two of our employees have families, but there is nothing left to do. We are near ruin. I called my landlord again today, to tell him that we may be selling our home and leaving the area in order to avoid complete financial devastation. He asked if we had any jobs in the offing, and I told him yes, but that nothing was starting up until after the new year, and we'd be out of business by then. You know what he said? "Stay, stay, you can stay in my building for free until this thing turns around."
There is a special place in heaven for a man named Jim Demetre.

[tabatha]

1. That is wonderful. I hope you make it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. What a pleasant note!

To Jim :toast:

[BrklynLiberal]

3. I hope that the new year brings you good fortune.

[robinlynne]

4. really good to hear.

[Mira]

5. This is wonderful - so much not what I expected. A wonderful way to recognize

we are all connected, and that we ideally need to do what it takes to be here for one another to the best of our abilities.
All the best and blessings to Jim Demetre.
And all the best and good ideas for making new connections and new ways to make money to you and your husband.

[gateley]

6. Wow - give Jim Demetre a hug from us!

What an angel!

And if I'm ever in the position to recommend or use your services, I'll PM you. :hi:

Good luck!

[eridani]

7. I hope you make it too n/t

[4_TN_TITANS]

8. There are some real Americans out there

who don't mind shouldering the sacrifice along with others. I hope you can take advantage of the no-rent time to scare up some work.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Excellent news. Thanks Jim!

[Delphinus]

10. Now

*this* gives me hope for humanity!

[justabob]

11. what a nice thing to hear

I have been thinking about posting a question about how have people's attitudes and way of being have changed since this economic nightmare began. I suspect stories like this one in the op, and mine that follows are going to become more common. Where I work there is a definite, "we are all in this together" feeling among the staff, at least the wait staff. I work in a popular, locally owned restaurant. Business has been terrible and the waitstaff is all hurting making rent, car payments etc. We have stopped complaining about having "too many" waiters scheduled et al because we all know how hard it is to miss even a $20 shift and WE don't want to be sent home either, though we sort of rotate taking one for the team, and go home voluntarily so the others MIGHT make some money. Well, yesterday we had three people working stations on the patio, but it was overcast and slightly chilly so no one was sitting out there. The clouds were expected to break, so the waiters out there had to suck it up until the clouds broke rather than being sent home. Several of us with stations inside gave up tables so our fellows working outside could make a little money. In all my time working with this company, I do not remember a time when the staff acted that way. Waiters, typically, are cut-throat (in my experience) even amongst their work buddies.