Matt Springer recently received an eviction notice from his landlord for failure to pay his rent. The following is an edited interview.

Pay your rent. The rent is due, pay the money. I know that. If you can’t, move out. Simple deduction. I don’t need fourteen paragraphs to describe what’s happening here.

I don’t blame my landlord or nothing. He wants his money. Times are tough for him, too. I don’t blame him at all. I was trying to work it off. I put in new windows in the place, then I painted two units. Now I’m back two months, soon three.

I owe him fifteen hundred. That’s a big chunk when you’re only collecting $126 a week unemployment. I can’t pay rent and buy gas, insurance and groceries on that. It don’t even cover rent.

I ain’t never stiffed nobody. It’s never my intention on leaving at midnight and leaving him high and dry. Just the economy is so bad. It’s hittin’ up here now, hard.

You’re in the construction trade and there ain’t no construction, what do you do? Why do I need to build a house when they’re kicking people out of the ones I just built?

I’ve done carpentry for 35 years. That’s all I know. I can’t go into a convenience store and try to program some computer. You know, punch in code numbers for groceries. I wouldn’t even know how to turn it on, bud.

I’ve been everywhere three or four times in the Upper Valley looking for work. You can’t name one I ain’t been to. There’s bridge work coming up, that’s what I hear. But I need a job now, not a month from now.

I don’t mind leaving, that’s not my problem. Just I ain’t got nowhere to go. I got my truck right outside, I’ll be sleeping in that soon. Thinking about it. You ever sleep in a Toyota SR5 pickup? I tell you what, you’ll end up cramped-up and beat-up before it’s all said and done.

I went down to welfare this morning to see if I can get some assistance. They told me I didn’t qualify. Tomorrow I’ll hit all the construction in Hanover. I’ll give it a shot. You got to do something. Something’s got to break.