A couple of months after I graduated from high school, I decided to move out of my parents house.
- My mom and dad didn’t want me to go anywhere.
In fact, they came up with 100 different excuses to keep me from leaving. I was convinced that I was ready to leave the nest. I found an apartment with a couple of girlfriends. The three of us were living together for a while and then they moved out when I was at work. I was living in the apartment all alone and the furnace broke down. I called the landlord and he said that it was my responsibility to fix the furnace. I didn’t remember signing something in the lease, but he brought me a copy of the information and I did sign the paperwork. I didn’t have any money to fix the furnace, so I didn’t have any heat in the apartment. I called someone and they wanted $100 just to look at the furnace and that total did not include the fees for parts or labor. I spent three weeks in the house without any heat. I was freezing cold despite using a space heater in my bedroom with the door closed. I even had a towel under the bottom of the door so none of the heat could escape. I finally told my dad and he agreed to help with the problem. He was surprised that I spent three weeks without the furnace and he called the repair shop immediately. He also asked for a copy of my lease so he could check with a lawyer to see if it was legal to make me pay for heating and cooling repairs.