Modus Operandi

On this beautiful planet of ours, there are so many people who will take advantage of others' weaknesses. We may call them scammers, con artists, or just plain thick-skinned people.

Yesterday, I went to my favorite bakery to buy freshly baked bread. They have many buyers because, no doubt, their bread are so good and also cheap. When I arrived, there was already a long queue of customers, and the three sellers were busy accommodating each customer. Then when my turn came, one seller asked what I wanted, and I told her this and that. And so while I was waiting for her, there was a middle-aged woman beside me buying two round cakes, and the other seller was accommodating. She was busy talking to the other woman, and she also talked a lot to the seller, asking prices for different breads and cakes. When I was about to pay, the other seller handed the two round cakes to the middle-aged woman, and she fled away. The seller was asking the other seller if that woman had given her payment for the cake that she had bought, and the other seller said she had not received any. So she chased the woman, but she already rode a tricycle. The seller was so pissed off that she talked to the other sellers about it. And worrisome can be seen on their faces because, obviously, they are going to pay for it.

I know the feeling. I have been played by thick-skinned people before, and not just once, but many times over.

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I was 18 years old when I decided to live solo. So, with enough money in my pocket and a bag in my hand, I went out of my comfort zone and explored the dangerous world. Did I just sound so dramatic? CHAIZZ! The first job that I got was as a service crew in a Burger Machine store. Since it was my first job, I was full of enthusiasm and very friendly to my customers. I am on the graveyard shift, so my work starts from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. I have no problem dealing with many customers at the same time because I am used to it. We always have this "Buy 1 Take 1 Promo", so we always expect many customers. That was when I experienced being bilked.

Photo Source

The Palit Pera Modus is

It was a fine evening, and I had so many customers at that time because of our promo. I think I was accommodating seven people with a minimum of three to four orders, so just imagine how busy I was. Then there is this man. He asked if he could exchange his paper bill for a small bill because he needed to pay for something. While I was busy flipping the burgers, he kept on insisting if he could and it was an emergency, so I stopped what I was doing and got his 500 pesos and changed them to small bills of the same value. Then I went back to cooking and he said that the money that I gave him was short of 100 pesos. I don't know what got into me, but I handed him another 100 pesos and then he left. Before I realized that I was being bamboozled, the man took off with my 100 pesos. Then the customers who were there at the time told me to not entertain those kinds of people again and to be more vigilant about those kinds of people.

The ATM

One night, I had a customer. She looks kind and decent by the way she is dressed. It was not a busy night for me, for I had her for a customer only. She ordered five burgers with drinks. And while I was cooking her orders, she was asking about personal stuff like, "Is it hard to work in a place like this?" because, according to her, she hadn't worked yet because her parents were well off and gave everything to her, things like that.The chit-chat continued until I was finally done with her orders, and when she was about to pay, she said that she had no bills in her wallet because she had forgotten to ask for money from her parents. But she had an ATM on her. She told me that she'd leave the atm for me while she headed back home and asked for money. The atm will be left as collateral for what she has bought. And I said, "YES!"

Hey, people, don't judge me. I was so naive at that time and didn't know how ATMs worked, hahaha! Okay, I admit it. I was so stupid at that time. I don't know where my brain was at that time, I think I left it at home, hhahaha!

A friend betrayed me. 

This is the most heartbreaking thing for me. While I was working at the said store, I met different people and made friends with them. One of them is an old street sweeper lady. She was sweet, kind, and friendly. She reminded me of my lola, so we always talked when we had a chance. She said that she was still working despite her age for her husband, who was very ill. We became friends, and I really treated her as my lola because I was away from home. Then this happened. One night, I was out of bread and needed to buy it at the convenience store just a few meters away from our store. Manang was there, and so I told her to look around the store for me for a while because I needed to buy something. I had a big red purse and left it at the table. After I bought the bread, I hurriedly went back to the store, where I saw Manang, hopping on a jeep with urgency, and she had my big red purse in her hand. Before I could even run after her, the jeepney was already far away.

I was surprised and hurt by her actions. I trusted her, but she betrayed me. In that purse was my allowance for two weeks and my monthly room payment for a month. She never returns to the place where she usually works. Of course, who would, right? I just told myself that maybe she really needed money for her husband.

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Date Published: February 25, 2022

Lead Image from Google