Pulling her own weight
by Casey Eldred
Skylar Reddington yawns as pulls into the parking lot of Acadamy Laundry at 6 p.m. on Friday night. She already spent 10 hours on her feet today at the salon and now she has to fold other people’s laundry for the next five hours.
(Photo: Skylar Reddington)
Reddington considers just driving away from the laundromat. It’s tempting, but she knows she needs this paycheck because her family is running low on groceries and the electric bill is due next week.
“My parents just struggled to do the normal things that parents would do,” she said, “to pay bills on time, manage their money, to get groceries when we needed them or bring me to the doctor, nothing that normal parents should do.”
Reddington began contributing to her family financially at just sixteen years old. She’s used to the burden of having adult responsibilities at a young age, but that does not mean it’s easy.
“When I was younger, we didn’t even have a stable home. They couldn’t manage to keep any house or apartment we rented, and we ended up staying at hotels for weeks,” she said. “We’ve lived in this apartment for four years now, but I still worry that one day my mom will wake me up and say we’ve been evicted.”
She glances down at her phone in between loads of laundry to see messages from her friends asking if she wants to get drinks tonight. She doesn’t know how to tell them she is exhausted and needs to be back at the salon for 8 a.m. tomorrow.
“Part of me wishes I got to move away to college after and start over like most people did,” she said. “I couldn’t even think about college. My brother had just moved across the country to Missouri, and I knew that I needed to stick around for my parents. I wanted more than anything to get to live in a dorm and party with my friends.”
There is no one for Reddington to turn to for advice about credit scores, insurance, or anything to do with adult life. Her parents’ actions often create more obstacles for Reddington to overcome than set examples for her to follow.
“A few months ago, my dad forgot to pay the car insurance bill that we had the money for, and I ended up having my car impounded for driving with insurance,” Reddington said.
Despite the constant chaos, Reddington put herself through cosmetology school and earned her state license in hairdressing. She balances two jobs, keeps track of the household bills, and continues to advance her hairdressing career.
“I’m really proud of how far I got myself,” she said. “I finished school and started my career before any of my friends are even finished college. It’s hard when you don’t have stability or support. Life is hard and it’s unfair, but I want to make as many good choices for myself as I can.”
