Moving Home Mistake

Five months ago I had a terrible lapse of judgement. Technically, there was a long line of bad decisions that ultimately led me to this particular crossroad, but any bad decision or lapse of judgement prior to this one was and is, by far, the lesser of the evils. To get right to the point, I managed to drain myself both financially and emotionally and when I found myself facing an inevitable eviction I had to make a decision based on what was best for my son. Low and behold, I ended up moving back 'home' to West Virginia.

Even then I could think of a hundred, maybe even a thousand, reasons why I wanted to stay in Pennsylvania. For starters, the Mid-Ohio Valley, as it's called by it's residents, is better known as Cancer Valley to the rest of the world. Secondly, the town is small enough that your business becomes everyone else's business. There is no such thing as annonomity. Third, the town literally shuts down at nine o'clock at night with the exception of three 24-hour Wal-Mart stores in a 30 mile radius. Wal-Mart, by the way, is the 'it' place to hang out. And for number four, although the cost of living in general is, for the most part, in line with the rest of the world, the pay scale for this hell-hole is about twenty years behind. Milk costs the same. Gas, give or take a few cents, costs the same. Even the utility costs are the same. But salary, well, that's a completely different story...

In the state of Pennsylania, I was employed by a large, well known franchise and earned in the ball park of $45,000.00 annually. After moving home, I was offered the SAME position with the SAME company with the SAME job responsibilities for $16,640.00 annually. Do you see a problem???

I really thought I was doing what was best for my son. After all, I wanted him to grow up with family, but what I forgot to consider, aside from all the valid points I mentioned above, was how much I hated my mother.