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I Slept in My Office for 6 Months Without My Boss Knowing
Looking back on this story, my decision making was highly irrational. My employer was a good guy and would have set me up with housing had I not been too embarrassed to ask. This was supposed to be a week long or month long solution at the most and ended up being six months long.
I was close with my boss and he knew my lease was expiring. He said, “you know, I once had an intern sleep under the drafting board.” That would have been the perfect opportunity to ask permission, right? But no, I was a weird 23 year old kid and being sneaky seemed easier at the time. I was wrong.
In 2014, my lease expired on my apartment in Boston, and my landlord raised the rent on my room from $630 a month to $900 a month. I had a choice whether to renew at this exorbitant rate, find a new apartment, or be homeless in my office without my boss’ permission. I chose the weird option.
Had I been interested in establishing myself in Boston post-graduation, I would have found new roommates. But my dream was to move permanently to Australia, and it was not possible to save money while paying Boston rent. I thought about Australia so obsessively, that it became a move “at all costs” including being homeless in my office without permission.
