My Life as an OFW-Book 2 of the Family Tree Series-In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield

Dear mouse,

This is the 44th in the series of the Family Tree Project-Book2 that I launched to leave basic life lessons and work ethics for my grandchildren who would never know how their grandmother, biological or adoptive lived before their birth or age of reason.

NOW:

I am running a temp since last night. May be because I went out to buy a carton of milk that is not milk, then I saw some big mangoes and unhusked corns and a pumpkin pudding and bananas. No it was not any of these items which made me get a high temperature. Silly.Naambunan ang bumbunan ko. hehehe. In between gulping Tylenol and lemon juice and napping, I tried to make this entry several times with eyes-half closed.

PAST:

Monday, we flew to Los Angeles. It was a small plane. The flight was just more than an hour.
I just brought an overnight bag. We landed at Burbank. Three of the LA office staff met us at the airport.

The driver was N, a lady employee who had just gotten her driver’s license so she didn’t use the freeway. Just the service roads. My lady boss’ backseat driver antics made me panic too. She kept on making the sign of the cross and pushing her shoes like she’s stepping on the break. I was doing the same, but I was using my two feet. One for the clutch you know. I was used to stick shift.

Again, we went to Denny’s for breakfast. I dread the “interrogation” of the food server after
I chose the breakfast I want.

I did not order something with egg. I ordered burger. You want mayo? You want onion? Tomato? Drinks? Coffee, tea or …

Can I order a lie detector test?

N, ordered for us. That solved the problem.

Talk, talk, introduction, introduction, eat, eat and then some commotion.

A person just collapsed. No one bothered to go near him. I was just looking. Is he dead?
Then I heard the sound of ambulance followed by the rushing of people in uniform with bags. Oh, so that was what they called 9-1-1.

The man was given first aid, bundled and boarded to the ambulance. It happened quick before I could finish my burger and my coffee. Whew.

So I asked for a paper bag. I did not finish my sandwich and I had no more appetite after seeing the man with frothing mouth.

One of the lady employees whispered, “good idea. You may never know when is our next chow.”

“Huh ?”. The people were not eating on time. It seemed, the whole day, there was only one big meal.

The office in Los Angeles was much bigger. I was introduced to the staff. Photo-op, photo-op, smiles and then I was ushered in inside one room with a desk full of telephones. Now what?

The lady boss asked me to call the SF office to inform them that we arrived safe and sound. Allelujah.

She told me the number to call. Oke.

Wrong number. I called again. Wrong number. I checked the number. It’s right to the last number. Who’s that guy answering the phone? He’s already pissed. “Stop calling this number lady, I am not buying and I am waiting for an important call.” Tsuplado. Tseh.

T, one of the lady employees who was very good with me taught me to dial the area code of
San Francisco since area code of Los Angeles is different.

And I could have used the speed dialer. But it seemed that they thought ORIENTATION is a station in the ORIENT. Double tseh.

People were busy. Suddenly, I became invisible as my lady boss went out for a meeting. No lunch. The people were tied down in their desks again. Heaven knew what they were doing.

I went to another room where an interview was being conducted for a warehouse personnel.
The LA office was handling local placements while the San Francisco office was handling the
international recruitment of different professionals. The nurses’ recruitment were stopped at that time because of the Relief Nursing Act. But the corporation had already placed several hundreds of nurses and had relocated their families. At that time, most in demand were physical therapists.

Most of the applicants in the Los Angeles were locals assigned to client companies either as temp or regular employees. There was no placement fee but the moment, they were taken in by the employer, they paid the marketing fee or the employer paid a fee for recruitment and selection for them before they hire.

The Applicant was Hispanic. Hindi siya makapagsalita ng English. Tinanong ko yong
nag-iinterview kung paano sila nagkakaunawaan. Sabi niya muwestra lang. Parang mime artist.
Hiningan siya ng photo id. Inilabas niya ang isang driver’s license.

Pinakita sa akin nang nag-iinterview.Sabi niya, yon ang nabibili sa tabi-tabi
sa halagang $ 50, depende kung saan binili.Pag sa middlemen,umaabot ito
ng $150. Oo,Birhinya, maraming peke dito.

Kung sisipatin mo ay parang genuine.Pag sinuswerte ka, buy one take 2, may
kasamang SSS Id. Siyempre peke ano. At pag ikaw ay pinagtiwalaan nila, kahit
green card makakabili ka.

Lately, the Department of Motor Vehicle issues driver’s license with two pictures; one small, the other one bigger. hahaha.

Ang green card ay nilagyan ng magnetic field na pag swipe
sa machine ay makikita ang kuwento ng buhay mo.

Ang peke ay hindi. Pero marami pa ring bumibili nito dahil hindi naman lahat ng
employers ay may kapabilidad magverify. Isa pa kung temporary lang naman ang
trabaho at kailangan lang nilang may
taong gagawa. Who cares?

The Ca t