Tee: I’ve always worked
Tee is a married African American man in his early thirties who lives in Atlanta. He works in the events hall of a hotel and his wife is employed at a furniture factory.
Tee was born in central Georgia, not far from the city of Macon. Tee’s father was not in his life and his mother, who served in the military for years, was rarely around. “My mother, she was the kind of person who moved around a lot. She was not really stable, you know. She wasn’t good at relationships and it was difficult to get to know her.”
Tee was raised by his grandmother, a loving and supportive figure who provided him with a sense of stability in his life. With the income from her job in the school cafeteria and some additional support from her former partner, she created a caring home for Tee. Together they regularly attended church and spent time with other family members – uncles, aunts and cousins – who lived nearby.
As a child, Tee liked drawing and writing classes at school and he dreamt about being a journalist. In high school, he began to imagine a future in technology although the pathway to developing skills in high tech seemed vague and uncertain. At the age of 18, he sought a way to earn a living, knowing that his grandmother could no longer support him. On the advice of family and friends, he applied and was admitted to Job Corps, a federal government program for low-income at-risk youth ages 16 through 24. Along with room and board, Job Corps provides education, vocational training, and assistance in finding a job.
Tee joined a Job Corps center located in Kentucky and stayed there for about two years, taking classes in house painting and in computer repair. After that, he moved in with a friend that he had met at the center. Over the next few years he worked at several jobs – a McDonalds, a factory and a construction company. He also took classes at a two-year college program towards an associate’s degree in computer information technology. “At Job Corps I learned a bit about repairing computers. I wanted to do other stuff too, like more related to the software, the programming and things of that nature.”
Tee took classes for a few years but was unable to complete a degree. There was too much pressure, not enough time. “I didn’t actually have the time to do those courses. I tried to stick with it the best I could, but you know, you have to have the time to go to school. I had rotating schedules at work, and then I had the problem of trying to make the classes fit in with my job. Finally, I said to myself, you got to make a choice about which one is more important right now, and what things have to go on the back burner.”
In Kentucky, Tee began dating a woman and they moved in together. After a few years they married and soon moved to Tee’s home state of Georgia where they have been living ever since. He and his wife do not feel ready for children yet. For the past five years Tee has had a staff position at an event hall associated with a hotel, setting up rooms and tables and doing some janitorial work as well. He gets paid $13.50 an hour. His wife’s job at a furniture company provides them with a health insurance plan although its coverage is quite limited. They are thinking of getting supplemental health insurance to cover more of their health expenses.
As hotels and event spaces lost business in 2020-2021 due to the COVID pandemic, Tee’s work hours were reduced. His schedule became unpredictable – he was never sure when he might be called in to work. He and his wife managed to get by, between savings, his wife’s income (her job was not affected by the pandemic) and Tee’s small collectibles business. “I collect comics and cards, like baseball cards. I go out to places like yard sales and things of that nature, and I find things that could be of value. I do some research on them, like the character or the player and what people are paying for it. Recently I sold a bundle of Marvel comics from the late 1960s, the era of Spider-Man and Thor.”
Tee describes his wife as the pillar in his life, someone who is always there for him. They belong to a church community and Tee remains close to the cousins who grew up with him. When Tee is feeling discouraged, he listens to motivational speakers such as Les Brown and Oprah Winfrey to give him strength and hope for the future.
In the future, Tee aspires to make investments that will give him long-term financial security. He often scours financial news reports and would like to invest money in the stock market. He would also like to own some rental properties. It has been difficult though to move towards these goals because between his income and expenses, he doesn’t have much left over to save. He characterizes himself as a careful spender and someone who has never misused his money. Still, he sees the path forward as one of working consistently and saving as much as possible to invest in the future. “The choices that I’ve made are always about making sure I have a job. I’ve always had a job; I’ve always worked. Even when I’m thinking about getting another job, I don’t give my notice till I have another one lined up. It’s about laying the groundwork to make sure I have what I need for the future”.