And When The Cloud Lifted

Here I am in Punta Cana as the Poker Director for the nicest hotel in a city filled with beautiful hotels. I went through a stage where I was working in a call center. I hated it and wanted out, but I needed the money. Actually after a while it wasn't so bad. Ex prisoners can make very pleasant work companions. I got to like quite a few of them. I just never told them my real name or where I lived (for safety sake). A friend I had once helped to get a job, Orlando Torres started working here and when the general manager told him that he was looking for someone to take over the Poker Room, Orlando told him about me. I sent a resume and literally 15 minutes later I had an interview set up, and three days later at the end of the interview I got the job.
I am here now for 6 days and I am loving it. I work for people who want to do things as quickly and as well as is possible. Instead of the Dominican/Spanish mentality of "Manana", I am now dealing with an American sensibility. What a huge difference.

And of course when things are looking good, good things happen. Take today for instance. I had to deposit money into Massiel's account. First I went to Banco Santa Cruz to change my dollars to pesos. I spoke to a customer service rep who gave me a better rate exchange than was posted. Then I found a Banco Popular nearby. It was so crowded that when I walked in I asked one of the 50 or so people on the line waiting for a teller if they were giving money away today. I couldn't see myself waiting on a line like that so I left. I asked the security guard outside if there was another branch nearby and he directed me to one that was less than 5 minutes away and absolutely deserted. I walked right up to the teller and made my deposit. I was passing by the original branch that I went to in less than 8 minutes. Then I stopped at the "biggest supermarket in town" to buy some razors. I was in there the other night and in typical Dominican fashion the cashier had no change and she beat me for a peso, and she didn't even offer me a piece of gum to make up the shortage. This time I checked the price before I bought it, just to make sure that I had the exact change. I did. When I paid her I said, " You know, last time I was here you beat me for a peso". She gave me a peso. Boy was I happy.

Little things, but sometimes, as the song says, "little things mean a lot".