Complications

I am ticked...seriously ticked. But mostly confused, worried, and anxious.

A few weeks ago, I was still on the hunt for a summer job. I was a nanny last summer and in addition to being able to interact with kids, I made good money. So, this was of course my go-to job this summer. I contacted a couple and I started talking to them through email. The mom asked for my number and told me that she would call me to follow-up. The call never came. Instead, she kept emailing me. She interviewed me through email and explained to me that her family is currently in England. She told me that they would be arriving back to the States within a week, and that they wanted to find a nanny before they arrived home. More emails were sent back and forth and I was informed that I got the job. I was very taken aback by the fact that I was hired over email, without them even meeting me. I guess I brushed this aside because I was soooo relieved to finally have a job. In addition to the weird fact that I was hired over email, the emails themselves were weird. I thought that the parents were from England, so I just assumed the reason why I would receive emails saying "my spirit goes for you", or "I want you to know that you have to be of good behaviors and also very much upright and never to let this opportunity become a pain for us as we do intend to give you our best support as family and we need same support from you as well", and my favorite "till I hear from you again, stay great always" was because they were British....I thought that the weird grammar and sentences were just British slang (please don't laugh at me....I'm feeling reallyyyy stupid right now just thinking about all of this!)

Needless to say, they are not actually from England...they are just strange. The second red-flag came when she informed me through instant messages to my phone (soooo weird!) that her email had been hacked. This freaked me out because I had given her my address and phone number (she wanted to send me my first week's pay since her husband would be out of town)and now some random person had access to that. She informed me that to solve the problem, she wanted us to have a code so that I could know that I was actually speaking to her....that's right people, a code. I was confused at how having a code solved the problem. Obviously this person could still access her email. I did not understand why she would not just get a new email. But, I did not want to be difficult and once again, I was thrilled to have a job, so I went along with her stupid code.

The next problem was that the start date kept being postponed. I was supposed to start last week, but then I was informed that they were still in England. Then she told me that they would be back by today. Then, I asked her if I would start tomorrow, and I learned that they are still in England. She would never give me a straight answer...only that it would be this week.

The last straw came today when I received my check. The amount of the check totaled $2,400. This was strange because we agreed that I would be paid $600 a week. After seeing the check I assumed that maybe they just decided to give me the first months pay. Later, she again texted me to make sure that I had gotten the check. I asked her about the extra money and asked if I was being paid for the whole month. That is when she dropped the bomb that the extra money was for her family's airfare back to the states...say what?!?! I calmly texted her back saying that I was confused about why that money was on my check. Was she expecting me to arrange her family's travel? She informed me that she wanted me to cash it, take my first week's pay out of it, and then send the rest of the money to her sister in Ohio via Western Union. What. The. Heck.

After talking to my parents, we agreed that this whole situation was very fishy. The fact that I have never spoken to them on the phone or seen them face-to-face...coupled with the fact that I was now acting as their personal bank just became way too weird. I explained to her that I did not feel comfortable doing this and that I would have to decline taking the job as well. I asked her what she would like to have done with the check and told her that I would do what I could to help her with that.

My stomach is sooo full of knots. I know that I made the right decision to not take the job, but at the same time I am worried. I am worried about finding another job for a short period of time. I am worried about how I am going to pay for tuition, rent, food, and books. I am worried that I am not going to be able to go back to school in the fall. I guess I am just feeling like everything that could go wrong in my life lately has been going wrong. Of course, I keep reminding myself that Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and that I just need to have faith. I just need to keep trying and trust that my diligence will pay off.

Quote of the Day

Do you think I am crazy for turning down the job? What would you have done?