-This is a big deal.
This is not the flu. This is something new. This is a worldwide pandemic. I mean, there's no other way
to phrase it. I mean, this is not,
"We're gonna be better tomorrow. Life's gonna go back to usual." People are canceling
their weddings. People aren't going
to funerals. And we're people with credit
scores in the upper 700s, low 800s. So, it's not like we're people who are already kind of
on the iffy line. Like, this would be
the beginning of something
really bad for us. -I am a union stagehand through
the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
Local 22 here in DC. We do just about anything,
if it involves lights, scenery, sound, stage. And with the COVID-19 scare, having everybody cancel
their major events, that means stagehands all over
the country are out of work. If I'm not working,
I'm not making money. That's all there is to it. -I always thought, we got here.
We were settled. We put all of our money
into fixing up this house. My son was gonna walk to high
school across the park, and now it's different. Everything is
gonna be different. Here, hon. Do you want to go downstairs
and grab packing tape? -Sure.
-I think it was a week ago, when unemployment checks
just weren't coming. The stimulus-package money, we
don't know when it will start. And we only have two months
that we can get a deferment on our loans
and the credit cards. And then we owe everything,
still, every month, and we don't have it. Kids are expensive,
and we burned through what little savings
we did have left. And then there was no work. I felt like I failed. Like, if I had been more
conservative in my spending, if I had been happier with less, if I could do more couponing
or be thriftier, maybe we could have hacked it. But I think we always
would have been -- we would have always struggled. I was actually thinking
that we might need to sell the double stroller
before we move. We'll have an easier time
finding a buyer here. I mean, if we found a buyer
for it, it'd be nice to have that little bit
of extra money right now. -That's fine. We've been utilizing
everything that we can find, from inexpensive CSA produce to free lunch
from the county school system. They basically fed my kids
for the entire week of spring break
and the week prior. -That savings allowed us to be
able to get a ham for Easter. Hey, honey?
-Yeah? -You did make sure to, like,
mention to people who are coming to help
with the move that they all need
to have a mask, right? We've got deferred payments
on as many things as we can. What are we going to do when
those payments come due again? And the answer is that
we sell our house, and we move someplace else
and start all over. -Man, that's a big truck!
-It's a moving truck. Hey, boys!
-Yeah, don't -- don't lose that. You were wondering how you guys
were getting paid. Forget about pizza. It's about toilet paper
these days. -So, we're looking to move
to the Midwest, where my parents and most
of her family reside, within a couple hours
from where we'll be. -There was a pandemic
that got rid of special events and all our money's
in the house. -I mean, what is he gonna
do in Chicago? -Construction.
-Oh, with his dad? -He's gonna get a regular
construction job until this all blows over. And we'll have family
to help us. You have family that can
come up and help you. We have no support
like that here. And we are hopeful that we will start hearing
from potential buyers, and we're packing up
and getting ready to put everything
we have in storage and live on family couches
for a little bit until he can find new work
where we're going. -He said he got you a buyer.
-Yeah. -He wants copy of
my disclosures, and I'm gonna need copies of the last three months'
utility bills. -So, if we can take our time
and pick the right place and pay off all our debts with what we have in equity
from the house sale, then we'll be able to at least
make a good life for ourselves. And he's getting
full-price offer? -No idea yet.
-Okay. -He wants to know
when the deadline is gonna be
for offer of submission. -Mm-hmm.
-I told him. I said, you know --
-Next Friday. But not knowing when the work
will come back means we don't know
when the work will happen for us and when we'll
have that housing. It means that we are in flux, and that's where we'll stay
for potentially six months, with two kids, two dogs,
two cats in a market that we're not familiar with
as far as our work, building a network. But, luckily, we do have family, and that's why family
is so important. -Aside from the pandemic
that's going on -- -Yeah? -Right now I get to be home
for all the big moments. -That's true.
A. J. got to be home
for Rosie walking, and if we didn't
have the pandemic, he would have missed it. -Yeah.
I'm thankful for that. -I did not ever consider
a pandemic causing us to end our employment
and move across the country. I thought of things like cancer,
terrorism, but never, never a virus. -Be strong.
-Mm-hmm. -I'm guessing we should also
go get more milk? -Yeah, I was just hoping
that the mail would get here and that it would have
the SNAP card in it. -So, you want to run
to the store at bedtime? 'Cause that's when
the mail's gonna get here. -I am aware. I was hoping it was gonna
be here yesterday, and then it wasn't. So, then, I'm hoping
it was gonna be here today. But yes, I acknowledge
that we are out of milk. -We made the move out here. -Managed to total a vehicle
in the process. -I can try and figure
out dinner. -Job hunt wasn't very good. It wasn't until September
that I finally got employment. I wouldn't call it gainful.
-William, are you okay? -I took a job with a carpentry
company, building houses. Never stopped looking
for something better because they were only
offering me $16 an hour to start, because,
as far as they were concerned, none of my skills
were actually transferrable. -But you got the germs, and you
didn't turn into a monster. -That lasted about six weeks,
before we got COVID. Tried to get another job
that paid a little more, and that rug got pulled out
from under me while we were still trying
to ditch the coronavirus. We've been basically back
unemployed since the beginning of November,
aside from the real estate job that my wife got that we haven't
earned any commission on yet. -Oh, and Barb told me
to tell you that M&M Construction has a sign
on the side of their van saying that they're hiring. -We were very fortunate with the
sale of our house in Arlington that we could afford
to pay cash up front for this. So, we ended up
without a mortgage. But we still owe people money,
you know, between credit cards, the automobile loan for the car that we had just bought
in February before everything got shut down.
-So, do you think that my listing's
really gonna go live today? -Do I think that your listing
is going to go live today? -Oh, it's live! Yep.
Ooh-ooh. But she was trying to see if
I thought we should raise it to, like, $275,000 or something? And I was like,
"No, it should be where it is. We want it to move quickly," because I don't know what we're
gonna do when January comes. Well, no, I think we can
probably float till January. It's really February. -I mean, I'm hoping that, like,
maybe January 20th or 21st that maybe somebody
will be more inclined to pass another stimulus bill. It's unnerving. Like, you don't know where
you're gonna be able to pay your bills
from, you know. Had to file for food stamps. Not even sure when
that's coming. Hopefully in the next day
or tonight, because we need groceries. We've just been kind of leaning
on the credit cards and what dwindling funds we
have left in the bank accounts. -Hey, Rosie, what are you doing?
! -She's gonna play with
the Christmas toys. -Okay.
-And yeah, like, Christmas is gonna be
tight this year. This is the worst time
for this to happen. -Nope!
-Oh, wait, wait, wait. Here's another present.
-Good. -And Bobby ordered a cupcake. -Who's Bobby? -If you're Santa, you really
should know these things. I have switched careers,
made a career. I'm working as hard
as I can to try and find a way to earn money. He applies to every job
he can think of. But his entire
industry disappeared in the blink of an eye --
a 20-year career gone. -Yeah.
-Your game is tricky? -Yeah.
-Okay. Can you put it on a pause? I think the mixed messaging
has made such a huge problem, and creating a partisan debate
about a public-health issue is mind-boggling. Everyone deserves healthcare. Everyone deserves to be healthy. Everyone deserves to know that they're gonna eat dinner
and breakfast. And the fact that people
who live in nice, comfy houses have been arguing
for months not making headway, and I don't know if I'm going
to lose my only vehicle that I need for my job
makes me want to cry at night. And then I have to smile
for my kids and keep trying and up my Zoloft
and consider an AA meeting because I've been in recovery
for six years. And there's only so much
a person can do before they're like,
"I really need to go sneak off in a corner
and drink or shoot myself." I don't know. I'm that, you know, frustrated
and confused, and it feels endless. Alright, 7:00, "Grinch,"
the musical. I mean, I've been running around
in circles, trying to find ways
to take care of everything, and there isn't an answer. Were you serious, that there
was nothing good in the mail? -I mean, coupons.
-[ Sighs ] Alright. I guess I will go ahead
and get a gallon of milk tomorrow morning, then. Yeah. Another day of junk mail
and no SNAP. -Mom, I eated all my bread.
-Okay, honey.
