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My First Job in The U.S.A. (Part I)                                                 By Lisa Lee                                          Contents

I will never forget the famous building, the World Trade Center, because I had worked in a gift shop on the 100th floor of tower one. It was my first job in the U.S.A.

In April 1983, like most new immigrants, I was very anxious to find a job. One day, my aunt said, “Do you want to be a saleswoman? Maybe my daughter-in-law Helen can help. She is a manager of a gift shop.” “Oh, yes! I said.”

On that night, I met Helen, who immigrated from Burma with my cousin John four years ago. She said with sympathy, “I understand your feeling and situation. To be a saleswoman is easier for you, only the wage is low, $3.25 per hour. This is basic wage in New York. But I can arrange the schedule, and let you work nine hours per day. Then you can earn a little bit more. What do you think?” I said gratefully, “I want a job so badly and don’t mind the lower wage.” Helen smiled and said, “You must be honest and work hard. After three months, if the boss, Mr. Hong, is satisfied with you, then you can be a permanent employee.” I said, “I will do my best.” Helen said she would pick me up next Monday to go to the gift shop.

How lucky I was! Really, I had dreamt that I could work in this splendid building; I would be very proud of myself! Now, the dream came true.

Next Monday, at 9:30 a.m., I went to tower on with Helen. The speed of the elevator hurt my ears. Anyway, we went quickly up to the 100th floor. The gift shop had two pats. One part was selling gifts and jewels; the other part was selling t-shirts and other items. Helen showed me the display case of the cheap gifts. She said, “This is the counter where you work. You have to stand behind the display case. If you want to go to the restroom, please tell another co-worker to take care of the counter for you for a while. If you have any problem, please call me and don’t bother another colleague. 1:00 p.m. is your lunch time. You have to eat here.”

What? Eating in front of the customers, it was ridiculous. I reflected and nearly spoke out. Helen explained, “Nobody wants to have another counter’s duty, and at 1:00 p.m., usually less customers come.” I nodded and stood behind my display case.

Everything was going on smoothly, only I felt awkward eating my lunch behind the counter. I hurriedly put down my food container when I saw the customers walk in. Helen came and gave me a can of soda. She said sorry because she forgot to remind me to bring a jar of water. “Thank you so much!” I just found out I was so thirsty, that I drank half of the soda in a minute.

After seven hours of standing, my lower back and the soles of my feet were painful, so I paced and tried to release the pain. My knees were so stiff that I moved as slowly as a cripple.

My First Job in The U.S.A. (Part II)                                                 By Lisa Lee                                 Contents

At 5:00 p.m. few of the salespeople went home. But some tourists liked to buy the small or cheaper gifts as souvenirs, so my counter was still open until 7:00 p.m.

I climbed with difficulty up 5 flights of stairs when I went home. I was so tired that I slumped myself into the sofa. My husband and my daughter looked and me and they were shocked. I smiled to them and said, “Hey, don’t worry. It is the first day.” My husband got a pot of warm water for me to put my feet into. My daughter gave me a massage on my lower back. Their love and warm encouraging were the best comforts to me, and made me refreshed sooner.

During the month I worked in the gift shop, I did not see my boss Mr. Hong, but I heard the story about him. Ten years age, Mr. Hong and his wife went to Burma to pray to a famous Buddha. He had a dream that the Buddha told him, if he could offer a job for 20 Burma youth, he would be a millionaire and have a long, long life. Then he hired 20 smart Burma youth (including my cousin John and his wife Helen) as the import laborers to manage his three gift shops. To reward his kindness and charity, they worked very loyally and hard, and obeyed his various rules.

Year by year, Mr. Hong’s business was doing very well. He really became a millionaire and was famous for being charitable and rich. I though he was a nice gentleman, but there was only one thing I didn’t understand: Why didn’t his employees have a lunch time?

Gradually, I got used to the long time standing, even though it still made my lower back and two feet painful, but it wouldn’t be worse. Being a salesperson, I sometimes had happiness. Once, a teenage girl bought a white paper folding fan ($1.50). She wanted me to write down her name, Mary Jones, in Chinese on the fan. I did it just as she wanted. She was so excited and gave me a hug. I was as happy as she was.

On the other side, sometimes I had trouble with the customers. One afternoon, a middle-aged lady came to my counter. She chose a set of glass swans, a big swan with three tiny swans. But she only wanted to buy the big one. I explained patiently that this was a whole set gift. I could not sell only one part of it, and the whole set only cost $7.00. She insisted that she could pay $4.00 for the big swan. At this embarrassing moment, fortunately, Helen just came by and I told her about the problem. Helen thought about it for a minute and suggested to her, “Would you like to pay $5.99 for the whole set?” Finally, the lady bought the gift, but she glared at me. It meant that I was a foolish salesperson. But I was not annoyed with her because she did not know I was only a common salesperson without power of decision.

My first job in the U.S.A. was very ordinary. However, it let me earn money for our living and gain some experience.

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