During my four years in Brunswick, I became involved in the community through the local senior center, providing IT support and participating in the writing group. My weeks were filled with meeting new people who needed IT help, writing weekly essays, trivia night at several locations in Brunswick, regular bike rides in the community and interesting outings with local friends. Life was good until my landlord asked for a nearly 40% increase in rent for my small, one-bedroom apartment.
His demand changed everything for me. I argued that as a senior on a fixed income with high health costs and with the need to use a substantial part of my income to visit my children overseas, his demand seemed unreasonable and unethical. He looked at me with embarrassed, yet determined eyes and said, “Business is business.” I stood incredulously at my door as the news gradually sunk in. I had no idea where to go or how to organize a move with just one month’s notice.
“Business is business” I kept thinking as I desperately considered options to move from my home. It eventually became clear to me that I would have to make a dramatic change at age 76, after having settled into a comfortable and rewarding life in Brunswick. I managed to organize my personal effects and home furnishings in a matter of two weeks with an intervening COVID bout, and then chose to move into a shared apartment in Massachusetts from the options I had.
While traveling over the next two months, I kept thinking about the “business is business” concept. I consoled myself with the idea that the owner’s family concerns, financial obligations and the need to do what other Brunswick property owners had done was enough for him to send me packing.
But I still wondered if removing me and then turning the small apartment into a Vrbo rental home was the right thing to do. I wonder if the world around us is changing to the extent that human relationships and a sense of morality have been subordinated to profits and personal gain.
I am hoping for a time when we can revisit the concept of “business is business” from a human perspective. In these uncertain times, we seem to be surrendering what made Maine a special place to live. This isn’t the Maine I had come to cherish.
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