Working My Way Through College

It was the first week of the fall semester, and I still didn't have a place to stay. I had been sleeping in my car each night, and showering in the men's locker room each morning. I was standing in the Student Union Hall looking at the dwindled list of low rent housing units that were still available. "If only I had gotten here a few weeks earlier", I thought to myself. The only places listed were out of reach for what little money I had after tuition, books, etc. I was feeling desperate since I also still needed a job, my grant money was almost gone, and my student loan check hadn't arrived at my P.O. box yet.

As I looked down from the bulletin board, my hopes of finding a cheap place dashed, a voice came from beside me.

"Hi, I'm Dale", he said. I was kind of startled - I hadn't noticed him arrive. "Hello", was all I could muster in response.

I looked him up and down quickly. He was a white guy in his mid-to late 40s with dark hair and a trim build. Kind of average looking. In his hands were a binder, and a picture of a house with a paragraph under it, and some tear-off phone numbers. The kind you see on the board.

"Looking for a place?” he asked.

"Yeah. They're all too expensive for my budget, though", I replied. I felt like crying. He must have noticed.

"I was going to post this, but now I think I'll wait", he said.

I took another look at the picture. It was a small, one story house, with a small yard, and no other houses visible in the picture.

"Too expensive for me", I said.

He looked at me with what seemed like deep sympathy, and said, "Why don't I buy you a cup of coffee".

"Sure", I said. Why not? I didn't have anything better to do. Otherwise, I'd just have to go back to my car, drive to a rest area, and sleep. I was sure tired of that car by now.

We walked a short distance to a coffee shop, where he had me take a seat at a table while he ordered some coffee for us.