“We could come down with the van and help you move your stuff,” I offered.
My son was moving from New Orleans where he had recently graduated from college to Austin, Texas for his first job. “I’ll keep that in mind, but I really want to do this by myself. I’ll rent a vehicle.”
I shrugged, “OK but call if you need anything.”
The next morning, he called. “About the van. Renting costs an awful lot of money.”
“What day should I come? Are you going to need dishes? Pots and pans? Maybe a mattress to sleep on?”
He did not hesitate. “Definitely.”
I looked through the house for extra odds and ends and set them aside for his stopover en route to Austin.
After his girlfriend and I helped him load the van, I said He had to pay for the gas both ways.
He looked at me in disbelief.
“Hey! You were ready to rent. This is a lot cheaper.”
As we drove home, he listed the costs of setting up a new apartment. “Money for the first month’s rent, in the deposit, possibly the utility hook-ups, besides a few basic groceries.”
After he had added it all up, I asked, “Could you use a loan to old you over until you get paid?”
He didn’t even think about that, “Sure. How much can I get?”
We got home in time for him to go with his dad to our bank to take care of the necessary paper work. The money went into our account, so we wrote him a check to open an account in Austin.
As he helped load the bedding and kitchen equipment I had set aside, he stated once again, “You don’t have to stay in Austin, I can rent an apartment by myself.”
So his dad drove him over, helped unload the van, dropped him at the rental car office and came home.
He called the next evening. He had found three apartments that interested him and asked for and took his girlfriend’s advice on which he should choose.
In the afternoon, he called me again. “Mom, they won’t cash the check without taking out a big chunk for a service fee and then it still won’t be available for a few days. I need the money to open my banking account so that I can rent an apartment.” I canceled the check and had the money wired.
When he went by the next day to sign the rental agreement, they wanted a rental history. They didn’t care that he was starting his first full time job with a salary that left me green with envy. They wanted a financial history that supported the ability to pay rent regularly. The only way he could rent was if his parents co-signed the lease.
Afterward, my husband reported, “They wanted my Social Security number, my salary and our credit card number. I didn’t even get to choose the apartment.”
He did move in by himself: The extra mattress from his sister’s room, the lamp his grandfather made for him, the pots, pans, dishes and miscellaneous from my kitchen and the stereo we gave him for Christmas.
By Monday morning, by gum, he began that new job all by himself. And next time, he better to it all by himself.”