1:52 p.m. - 2003-06-05
Earning money at last and then I get robbed
Time is going so fast at K*risk*indl. I can see myself being here for three months before I know it. I need to think carefully about what I really want to do. Stay or split?
Had my wallet stolen on Friday, whilst I was in Darling Harbour, meeting Francesco about my job. I was sitting on the grass reading my book and thinking about heading home, when I heard a woman's voice to the right of me say, "excuse me?" I looked up at her and as soon as I saw her discoloured teeth I knew something was wrong. Then she asked me where the train station was. I stupidly gave her directions, that's when her accomplice must have swiped the wallet from my bag. As soon as she left I realised what had happened, I ran off in the direction I guessed she'd taken, but she had disappeared. Typically, I didn't have any bank phone numbers on me to cancel my cards, so I had to walk half an hour to my regular Internet Cafe, where I go almost everyday. After some reluctance they let me online for free. I got the numbers and called the banks. It would take three weeks to get my replacement cards to Australia. Overall I was lucky, I had spent the $15 that was in my wallet that morning on a mic for my MD, and they'd left my phone and camera.
I would have been in the shit financially if I hadn't got the cash in hand job at the weekend, although I would never have been in Darling Harbour in the first place to get robbed.
It was such a boring job. I had to stand up all day, repeating myself to ugly, coiffured ladies wearing too much make-up about what I was selling. It was a freakshow. The beauty business is the biggest con; it's so seductive though.
I was mildly entertained by the tanning stand across from us. I got to see the same demonstration model receive an airbrush tan over and over again, and the stand next to us was selling bodybuilding protein products. The men handing out leaflets were stereotypical gay-looking body builders with huge biceps, fake tans, flowing golden locks and bleached white teeth. They obviously looked to Fabio (the Mills & Boon model) for inspiration. I also got chatted up by one of the security men. He lived near me and asked me out after work, but I managed to see sense and declined. He was a complete stranger after all. It made the day slightly more interesting, I could see him from my stall. Anyway, Franscesco took a shitload of money selling these rollers. They were his design, based on the lowly old style clothes peg. Well that's what they looked like to me - pink plastic pegs. He was selling them for $60 a bag. That's �24, not really worth that much I think. He took so much money and I was the one doing most of the selling, because he couldn't speak any English. I realised I was getting underpaid. I toyed with the idea of stealing from him. There was no way he could find out, he wasn't keeping a record of the discounts he gave on a 3-pack purchase. I know it's wrong to steal, maybe I don't have many morals, but I was desperate and had no idea when I would earn any more money. I decided against it in the end. I imagined Francesco giving me a bonus on Monday night for doing so well and then being racked with guilt for the rest of eternity. I just thought it wasn't worth risking my peace of mind. Turns out he didn't give me a cent on top of the $300, I wish now I'd slipped $50 into my sock.
I did get taken along to a buffet dinner at The Sheraton on Saturday night though. I went with a bunch of Italian Australian Mafia types. They were all in the Beauty business. I felt out of place, but tucked into the fantastic buffet. I ate oysters for the first time. I like them, but I only ate two, as the second one got stuck in my throat. I didn't want a repeat of my calamari choking incident with Ben. Where I thought I'd chewed a piece of squid through, enough to swallow it, only to find the half that was half-way down my throat was still attached to the half that was in my mouth. It was only hanging on by a tendril, but squid can be extremely tough. I'd panicked and coughed it back up; I was a little more demure this time and forced the little fucker down.
There was a jazz weekend at Darling Harbour as well as the Hair & Beauty Expo, so of course in true spectacular Sydney fashion, there were tonnes of fireworks set off. We were overlooking the harbour and had a great view from the balcony. All the Japanese guests were filming like mad and taking pictures.
I got back to K*risk*indl quite late and I'd been moved into room 7, next to the nun. I had a new roommate too who woke up when I came in. I introduced myself and she seemed nice. I got good vibes from her from the few words we�d shared. I'd seen her arrive the night before with loads of suitcases. She sounded European.
