So i got a job in a money exchange office on the Rue de Rivoli, one of the busier streets in Paris.
I also found an apartment. Florian, a german who lived in Paris, was about to go to Rome for three months and needed to find someone to stay in his apartment in Paris for this time. So the next three months, i lived in this adorable apartment at Pigalle, the “Reeperbahn” of Paris. I lived right next to the Sexodrome, the largest Sex-Supermarket in the City, and also not far away from the Moulin Rouge.
At that stage i was pretty broke.
Because i just started working, i still hadn’t received my first paycheque. I felt too embarrassed to ask my parents for money again. My dad had this prophecy for me, that i would end up under a bridge one day, in Paris, like a Clochard, so i didn’t want to admit, that he was not too far off the track. To get to work, i either walked or i had to jump the gate in the Metro and take the rides for free.
I literally had zero money.
There was this one day when my horrible boss Mister Carl asked me to pick something up, all the way over the other end of town, and i panicked a little, because i knew, i wouldn’t be able to afford the Metro- or Train-Ticket to get there. I had to jump the gates again and on the way back, there was police everywhere in the Metro, so i decided to walk in order to avoid being arrested and locked-up in Paris. It took me forever and i was completely exhausted by the time i came back to the exchange office. I hadn’t eaten all day, because i also couldn’t afford food and it felt like i would faint soon.
Luckily one of my colleagues had been to the supermarket just before, and he had left his full bags of groceries in the back. So when he went to the toilet, i stole one piece of bread out of his bag, right out of the middle, so he wouldn’t notice. It tasted delicious.
On the way back home, i found a 50-cent-piece on the road. That made me feel so happy! It felt like, i had just won the lottery, but i couldn’t even get anything for 50 cents. “If i would find another 50 cents, i would maybe be able to buy a croissant.”
That night, i walked home, still very hungry and completely exhausted. I found some spaghetti in Florian’s apartment, and i cooked a whole saucepan of spaghetti and ate them with butter and salt. And then i made myself a bath.
And a thought popped up “it cannot get much worse. But i am in Paris! I have a job and a place to stay!”
And this thought made me happy!
The next day, i got my first paycheque, and i went to the supermarket and bought all the things that looked delicious!
When Florian came back from Rome a few months later, we became really good friends.