703 day of war

Hello, friends!

This week turned out to be exhausting for me because I was engaged in an unusual activity for myself - communication and negotiating with other people. Upon receiving an offer to dye a batch of T-shirts for a store, I realized that the conditions they were proposing didn't suit me well. I couldn't imagine how I could fulfill such a large and complex order under their terms. The first day, I gathered information and tried to understand how to handle everything better. I couldn't sleep at night, constantly thinking and worrying. Later, an idea came to me on how to implement it, but my conditions were completely opposite to the store's, and they were reluctant to agree to them.

I thought about what to do, studied how negotiations should be conducted and how such collaborations generally take place. The store wanted me to paint a batch of 50 T-shirts with payment for my work only after they sold them. This meant I had to work with my materials for about 3 months, purchase everything on my own, and then wait for several more months until they start selling. This option didn't suit me at all because I didn't have the funds to make such a batch, and it posed significant risks for me.

My conditions were to break the batch into intermediate batches of 10 T-shirts, pay me half the amount for materials upfront, and the other half after the T-shirts were sold. I tried to logically explain why their conditions didn't suit me and why we should do it my way. I tried not to appear too eager for the order and not to agree to unfavorable conditions, even though this order was very important to me, especially since I hadn't sold any T-shirts in the past month, and they are not in high demand during winter.

Finally, after several days of tough negotiations, they agreed to all my conditions! I outlined very convenient terms for myself in the contract, thinking they might not agree, and I was prepared to compromise on some issues. But somehow, I managed to convince them, and they agreed to everything I wrote!

I independently drafted the contract and am now waiting for the first batch of T-shirts to arrive next week for painting. I am very excited; this is my first significant dye job, and I believe it will help me develop significantly. Hopefully, I will see some profit from this work around summer.

And it's really great because life is getting tougher. For the past two months, we haven't received food kits, and we also received a letter stating that next month, we will receive our last assistance for living. They say only pensioners and disabled individuals will receive assistance now, and everyone else "should have adapted within 2 years." This is quite strange because a month ago, they said assistance would not be canceled for people without housing, and now everything has changed. They argue that it's a requirement from Western countries providing aid, to reduce the number of payouts. It sounds strange, just like the idea that we were supposed to adapt within two years. It seems as if I was supposed to magically acquire housing during these two years :)

In the meantime, housing becomes more expensive, food prices are rising, and the amount of assistance is decreasing. I don't know how to solve the question of where and how to live further. This seems to be a strange policy of the state, and in my opinion, it will significantly impact a large portion of the population. But we will figure something out and try not to end up on the streets. We've always survived somehow, and I believe that this time, too, everything will work out.

Thank you all very much for your support and belief in me. It means a lot to me. Also, thank you for the help on buymeacoffee.