Astrid part 2

and now a credit card

It turns out that there was a good reason why Astrid was invited to Greece by her employer. While fielding calls in the middle of the night in her humble cinder block home in a rural village in Guatemala she stumbled onto a scheme that some employees were using in Athens and also in Jamaica to defraud the company. They had figured out how to appear to be working while they pursued other activities costing the company some seven digits annually.

With a bit of coaching via WhatsApp Astrid, who was concerned about traveling solo, had an uneventful trip to Athens via Miami and Madrid. She was met at the airport by the CEO of the company who escorted her to the hotel and took her to dinner.

The following day she was invited to the Athens office to show the CEO and a vice-resident exactly how she unearthed the fraud. In doing so she demonstrated the scheme using an actual eimployee who was subsequently relieved of her position. In the following days Astrid and a few others who had been invited to Athens held meetings and were wine and dined and shown around Athens.

During one such meeting a young woman from Jamaica who was clearly jealous of the attention given to Astrid interrupted a business meeting to ask Astrid if she had any children. Astrid, quickly figured out where this was going and replied that she had a son. The young woman then asked how old was her son. Astrid responded that he was seven and then of course she was asked her age. “I am twenty-four and no, that wasn’t the best time to have a kid but it is what it is.” She then turned her attention to the company officials and told them how grateful she was to have the job, that it allowed her to take care of her family and study at university as well. When recanting the story to me she said, “I have no idea where that came from.”

At the end of the week Astrid flew to Madrid where she was met at the airport by Diego. She stayed near Diego’s residence in an AirBnB room and while he was in class was able to do her laundry and catch up on her sleep. When Diego was not in class the two did Madrid together.

Astrid is now back in her humble home in San Antonio Aguas Calientes. She has been given more responsibility within the company and will no longer take calls but will provide support to both the Athens site and the Jamaica site. Her next trip to Athens is scheduled for December. In the meantime, she will renew her visa for the United States as she now understands that the visa is a ticket to much of the world and she will talk to her bank about getting a credit card. Onward, Astrid. We are all so proud of you.