Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Estoy bien

I haven't been blogging because what a story I have!

How to make it blog worthy, or should it become a chapter in a book?

We quit the farmer.  Adios Amigos. :(

Apparently the farmer has financial issues, or is too busy to do payroll. After waiting three weeks for one day of pay (my first week) we expected to receive paychecks on a regular basis.  HAHA

I made it quite clear, leaving notes..."Paychecks?"

Over the phone, "If we can't get paid in a timely fashion, this might not work out and we can seek employment elsewhere."

and finally, "give me a call when paychecks are ready, I am going to another job in the meantime."

This ultimatium was greeted with the guys circling me and trying to convey in my borken spanish and their broken english the fact that they had been MONTHS without pay, and asking me about "Estimated withholding" of 20% on their checks...I felt like Hugo Chavez.

Many hot hours picking tons of squash and cucumbers and the sweet corn...60 ears to a bag is pretty heavy and one day I had to deliver 47 bags of corn...

Three full weeks of back pay and no paychecks in sight, I quit.  Two weeks ago, and have received one paycheck on the three owed.

And the guys are still owed tons of back pay, and continue to work 14 hour days, although there was some attempt at a strike last Monday, which produced the one paycheck.

Most likely they are here illegally, and one of them has a two year old daughter born here.  They are the hardest workers I have ever seen.  Can you see three guys picking 15 five gallon buckets of green beans in two hours?  I am a pretty good picker and it takes me nearly an hour to pick one bucket.

We had one white teen boy last three hours in the squash field. He went home for lunch and never came back.

I imagine the senior picking beans since he could crawl.

"It's easy, see, see?" (Or maybe "Si, Si" ) he said to me as he brushesd the leaves away coming up with double handfuls of beans each swipe.

I feel bad sticking them with all that work.

But indentured servitude went out of fashion a long time ago. 








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