Cash n' Carry

One of my English language students worked at a Phillips 66 station right off of the interstate, in a seedy part of the city. Aside from ringing up gas purchases, she was responsible for filling gas tanks for commercial truckers. She is a petite young woman, slight and maybe 5'1". She is 22 and has been working (in Mexico, where I guess there are not labor laws) since she was seven years old. She helps her parents and younger sister with the rent. I was surprised she held this physical job, at which there was some heavy lifting, not to mention the risk of ringing up the purchases at the self-service and convenience store. Well, the station was privately owned and the owners were going out of business, so she was going to be out of a job. She asked me to write her a recommendation for a job, which I was glad to do: I knew from her writing that she was a hard working and enterprising person.

She sent me a thank-you note, which did not mention whether she got a new job, and which included a gift certificate for a store called "Phil's". I wondered if she was now working there. Recently I had a chance to drive to Phil's. Not surprisingly, it too was located in a part of town I would not like to be hanging around in after dark. It turned out to be a cash n' carry discount liquor store. There were some closed-down gas pumps in front, so I figured this was a renovated gas station, or previously a drive-through liquor store.

I went in and asked the young woman behind the counter if she knew if my former student worked there (she didn't). Well I don't usually drink except wine and this place did not seem to carry wine, so I used the gift card for a bottle of Kahlua. I did appreciate my student's thought, though the choice of store was unusual. I hope she improves her English and work options.