Temptations...

Temptations…

26^th August 2011

Thou shall not give into temptations… but it’s bloody tempting!

This morning was an early start. All I wanted to do was turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. Instead, I was on Morning Sale. Normally we don’t tend to sell a huge amount. Morning Sales are mainly used for the guests, who leave things until the last minute, to pick up reprints.

Things went relatively smoothly and without complaints. Paco strolled into the gallery at 08.45 and told me to go for breakfast. Twenty minutes later I was back in the gallery and Paco was taking his turn at going for breakfast. Before he left, Paco called me over. Paco pointed out an Italian guy and said he’d been trying to bribe him with cash for his photos.

Out of the corner of my eye I was watching the Italian man. He was watching Paco leave the gallery and head up the stairs towards the Mess. As soon as Paco was out of sight the guy walked over towards me. Taking out his wallet he said “I’ll give you €250 for all my pictures”. How predictable. I said "no" and the guy asked how much. I mentioned the GTP price for all the pictures but he sneered and said it was too much money. Next I informed him about The 15 package. The man was with his wife and son who were looking at me as if I was from another planet. I explained that his photos were worth around $700 so with their packet he’d save money. All the time the guy kept saying, €250 cash for you. So tempting!

His son who must have been about 10 started shouting at me and waving his hands around the place saying I kept giving different prices and needed to make up my mind before calling me an idiot. Excuse me? I was tired and short tempered but didn’t expect a little boy to shout, calling me an idiot and his parents just look on and smile in agreement. My turn. Turn to the boy, I smiled replying, in Spanish “They are different packets or can you not understand that?” He understood me perfectly because there was a look of shock across his face. His parents just stood looking at me. Turning to the parents I told them I wasn’t accepting any cash, they needed to pay using a Sea Pass card. It was Sea Pass card or nothing.

Reluctantly they walked to the opposite desk with the photos and sorted out fifteen. I charged for the 15 package. The wife signed the receipt. Looking over I saw the man holding the photos and pulling his backpack round to his side. “Those are the photos you don’t want aren’t they?” I asked, smiling. He nodded and placed them in front of me. 

Getting out his wallet again he took out a €50 note and waved it around in my face. “I’ll give you €50 for the remaining photos”. I shook my head. This was getting ridiculous it made me want to laugh. Not happy with the constant denial, he tried stuffing the note into my hand. No chance. The guy pointed to the photos and said €50 cash for you. In your pocket. Once again I had to say no. Looking at me as if I was a bug that needed to be squashed he shouted “you’re an idiot.” That was the second time I’d been called an idiot within 15 minutes. Leaning on the counter, I pointed to the wad of photos and told the biggest lie. I’m surprised my nose didn’t grow like Pinocchio’s. “No, I’m not an idiot. From this (pointing to the photos) I earn more than that” and waved my hand towards his money. Of course, as in the true Royal Caribbean way, I kept a cheesy grin attached to my face. The Italian guy had finally got the message. He picked up the unpaid for prints and threw that at me before walking out the gallery. Saying a swift goodbye I picked up the photos from the floor and binned them.

Paco soon came back and asked if they’d offered me money. I told him what had happened and his reply was simply “good”. Turning to Paco I told him the truth. Do you know how hard it is to say no to someone who’s offering you €250 cash? I could have had €250 in my pocket for allowing him to walk out the gallery in 5 seconds flat. You compare that to working like a bitch for a week and only getting €180! Paco saw I was angry and frustrated. He even understood my point of view and where I was coming from. A quick €250 or a long slog for €180… what would you go for?

Paco told me about the famous Brazilian season on the Mariner of the Seas, where 50% of the Portuguese speaking crew were fired for accepting cash bribes. They’d known something was going on, so they put the crew on watch and of course, it was only a matter of time before they slipped up and it was all on  CCTV. Paco also said if there were any suspicions they’d check the CCTV. It was said almost as if they were telling me they were going to check my story out by watching the CCTV. Go ahead!

Although I was tempted by the offer – I’m not going to lie. The part that stopped me from accepting it was the simple fact that it’d have been a niggling thought in the back of my mind. Unfortunately I have a conscience. If I’d have been called into the office, even if it was to collect my schedule I’d have bricked it!

Later on, I told Hernan what had happened. He couldn’t believe it and said it was also too tempting to resist but no matter what happened we’d have to refuse any offers. At least there are other members of the team sharing the same opinion.

It’s quite easy to say you’d accept the offer, but it’s a completely different story when you’re in that position. Although we’re earning terrible money at the moment, the experience of my job is worth more than €250... and so is my flight home!