Chip Chick
Two years ago, this 44-year-old woman’s husband, also 44, was laid off from his job. For the last 12 years, she and her husband have lived in Rhode Island. Her husband worked at the same company for nearly that entire time before he sadly lost his job.
When her husband was laid off, he was offered severance for 10 months, paid out at half of his salary.
Throughout those several months, she and her husband job hunted, but unfortunately, the Boston and Rhode Island areas were an intensely competitive job market. Most job seekers in Boston seemed to have an MBA or PhD. She has a GED, and her husband has an Associate’s degree.
After tons of job searching, the only offer she received was for a minimum-wage position in an unsafe area of town.
“I gave up and fell into a depression. My husband insisted that the East Coast is overrated and other job markets were less competitive, so he was going to look there. So, he found a contract-to-hire job in Minnesota. Obviously, a cheap place and the fact he had a job pulled me out of zombie mode,” she said.
Sadly, everyone they know is on the East Coast. Plus, their 12-year-old daughter is a talented ballet dancer who ranks at least third whenever she competes.
“The ballet scene is on the East Coast. The best studios are there as well. My daughter’s dream is to dance for New York City Ballet,” she explained.
“I drive her an hour one way to study at a prestigious studio in Boston. Her instructor there is the best of the best.”
“I just could not justify moving to the middle of nowhere essentially when my husband was just doing a six-month contract.”
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