For nine years I'd been building myself up for a good, reputable, high-paying, benefit-offering career. For nine years I'd worked in restaurants and bars second and third shift and weekends without benefits to accomplish this feat. A Psychology and English Major, 4.0's, Phi Theta Kappa, National Dean's List, President's List awaiting my opportunity. I longed for the day when I didn't have to work after my son came home from school, when I could come home from work and we could all sit down and have dinner as a family, while also being able to go out and do things on weekends.

Finally came the day of coincidences where I just happened to mention my desire at the right place at the right time to the right person and I was referred to a law firm.

The lawyer was very impressed by my resume, causing me to acknowledge all my hard-earned accomplishments that I'd so long ago dismissed as not being good enough. At the second interview he went on to explain to me how he just loves to take care of his employees, because he knows in providing great financial incentive, they will remain. You can provide me that incentive any time you want to, buddy, I left there thinking.

An hour later I was welcomed to the team. I would be responsible for carrying out summary proceedings for evictions for "drug-addicts, scumbags, or people who just spend their rent money on less important things." I thanked my God that night profusely and felt quite proud of myself and deserving of such an opportunity.

My first day there I noticed that they were backed-up a good 200 files. Anxious to get trained and caught-up I left the house at 6:30 in the morning, dropped my kids off at two different places, worked typically ten hours or so, and then returned home an hour and a half after leaving work. 13 hours of my day was caught up on this job, and I wasn't seeing my children at all, but I needed the overtime and reassured myself that as soon as I could get caught up on all those backed-up files, I would not only have proven myself and my work ethics to my boss, but I'd be able to return to a regular schedule.

After two weeks I was real anxious to get my first paycheck as funds were running real low. The higher-income had disqualified me for childcare assistance, so I was paying far too much for childcare, far too much in gas, taking care of my regular bills while not having had anything come in for two weeks. This is when I learned that the pay was bi-weekly, and I couldn't expect

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