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My first job in Montreal
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My first job in Montreal was to deliver flyers. It was the first time that I had experiened real life.
This job was simple, but, like any average job in lower class, it, in any case, was with shades of being marginalized for shortage of work experience, or desperately poor eduction, or an embarrassment by there being few bucks in pocket. At 9 a.m., all workers, including me, assembled on a parking lot within walking distance of station Namur, and then every 6 of all were loaded into a van as a team - one drove, one sorted flyer bags out, and the four left delivered flyers. Each team was respectively required to go to a specified spot, or, technically, an intersection, which had been marked on the map of the area to be taken by them. Having arrived at an intersection, a team dropped any two of the four on duty of delivering flyers and asked them to walk along two sides of a street respectively with delivering flyers from door to door. With neither employment threshould nor training bothering, the workers, caught in heavy rain or snow, sweating in piercing the sun`s rays, staggering in strong winds, just kept walking from one end of a street to the other as far as could be seen or maybe not for 8 bucks per hour, and the walk usually lasted for 6 hours or even 8 with some 10 - minute breaks midway.
Men engaged in this job were from different backgrounds in lower class. In our team, appearing to be much older than his age unless stubble on both cheeks was removed, Michael was a white young man from a poor immigration family from Germany. He drove an aged van, was happy to tell me Nazi stories from his family in the Seond World War, and, meantime, dealt privately, though he has never agreed that it was drug. Benoit, a black boy, alway enjoying himself in his own world, was excited at talking about how to get a woman with big breasts and bottom. Being Benoit`s close friend, Josh was also a black boy and in such a poverty that he could not afford a lunch, but was quite pleased to teach me the words or expressions with "f_u_c_k" or "f_u_c_king" and made me ready for future fight in English - speaking environment. I, as a new comer to Montreal, kept silent or, in their word, "shut up f_u_c_king mouth" and listening while, as an experienced man in this team, often chuckled with faces to share ups and downs in their life stories. Other two men were not as fixed to work in the aged van as us, showing up and disappearing. Since I quit the job, I have ever complained about their language "vile", "monotonous","unimaginative", and "undoubted proof of poor educaion" until I found a better job. However, with the passage of time, my memory for our team has been growing. It isn`t attributed to their "f - language" and improprieties but , instead, their nature of keeping life real - there not being an occasion for having suit and tie on, they didn`t lie habitually, considered to be a headache by government , they didn`t bribe with no shame on face, and, regarded as losers by many people, they still knew the importance of lining up in McDonald and spared the beggars at the entrance a couple of dimes. Anyway, they were from lower class, but they led a real life I can`t see in China.
Life is unbelievably unpredictable so that we are kept curious and excited at what will happen, while frustrated and saddened by what happened. One day, I was told that Josh had already washed cars for a Chavrolet dealership and earned 12 bucks every one hour insted of embarrassing 8 bucks, and Michael, still driving, had worked for a professional furniture movers, been paid 20 bucks every one hour and said goodbye to poor working conditions, whereas Pascal, our previous boss, suffered from fraudulence and fell on the verge of bankruptcy, and then I had a long sigh for changes in life - it is the core of life to keep it real.
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Post comment Comment (6 replies)
- Reply cestlavie
- It's always a tough time to suitable a new life abroad, luckily you've friends as mentioned surround you, hope things are getting better and better.
- Reply sunnyv
- You know? This is actually a very good experience for you. You won't be able to enjoy success unless you have tasted poverty. Don't worry, somehow, you would be find your way to success. Thanks for sharing this interesting story with us.
- Reply gosurf
- You are quite right. This is why I cherish what I have now. Thank you.
sunnyv: You know? This is actually a very good experience for you. You won't be able to enjoy success unless you have tasted poverty. Don't worry, somehow, yo ...
