Crisis



THURSDAY, February 23, 1995.

Bad.

My job in Rome has fallen through.

Short history: Zac (the project manager at Intecs) sent me an offer letter via e-mail on December 5. I pressed him for an official offer letter before I left the United States. On December 16, he said he'd fax me an official offer letter. However, it didn't arrive. I further pressured him to send me something before I left the United States on December 21. Nothing, although he assured me that everything was OK, just a bureaucratic snag...

On January 10, Zac said that everything had finally cleared through the bureaucracy and that he would send the official offer letter to me in Siena. I felt relieved and reassured.

I waited three weeks (even from Rome, the Italian post is extremely slow), but still nothing arrived. Time to step up the pressure. I started calling, and faxing him letters, but I could not get in touch with Zac. Finally, I found out that he was in Austria and would not be back in the office until Monday, February 20. I did manage to speak with Fabio, another manager that I'd met when I visited in November, but he said there was nothing he could do - I needed to speak with Zac.

Note that I was supposed to start work on March 6!

Without an official offer letter, I cannot prove that I'm employed, cannot obtain a visa, and cannot rent an apartment. Now, it seems obvious that I should've been worried earlier, but Zac was so reassuring. As for the visa, he told me that the last time Intecs hired an American, they found a loop-hole which allowed him to be paid while he was just a tourist until they could complete the rest of the paperwork. Given the Italian bureaucracy, I found this perfectly believable.

OK. Monday comes - but Zac's still not back in the office. Tuesday he wasn't in when I called, and he didn't call me back. Note that at this point, I'd faxed him two letters, left 5 phone messages, and told everyone that I spoke to in the company to tell Zac to contact me. I concluded that he was jerking me around.

Note that to make phone calls to Rome, I need to buy phone cards and go to a pay phone on the street. Fabulous. And expensive. I cannot use the phone at home except for e-mail which I bill to my AT&T calling card. However, using AT&T is far from the most economical way to call within Europe.

Wednesday, I call. He's there but he's in a meeting. I told the secretary to interrupt him. She tried to blow me off. I said interrupt him. And she did.

Finally on the phone, Zac told me that he would send me something first thing in the morning. I asked, why not today? He hedged. I asked him if the letter had already been written (this is the letter that he said he'd sent me on Jan 10). He said OK, he'll do it this afternoon, good-bye. I received no fax that afternoon. At 6pm, I called him again. He said he'd tried to call me (believable - I wasn't home). He has bad news - there's no job. The company doesn't have enough money. Instead of hiring an outside consultant, they have to bring someone in from the office in Naples. Because of these financial constraints beyond his control, the "big boss" won't sign the offer.

And so I politely, but brutally, let him have it. I got him to say several times that he was very unprofessional and that it was his fault. He said he was very, very sorry. While, his words didn't change the situation, they were satisfying. At least he admitted that he was guilty. "This is Italy" he told me.

Yes, yes, this is Italy.

He said that he would look around for other possibilities and that he would call me again today. He didn't call. I have now written him off as completely unreliable.

Rome is dead. Sorry - bad, bad news for those of you planning to visit me in Rome. Sorry everyone.

I feel like a moron for letting myself get strung along like this. Live and learn.

So what now?

Excellent question, but I cannot answer it yet. When I accepted the offer to work at Intecs in Rome, I turned down an offer to work with the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBILAB) in Zurich. The UBILAB job was better in every way, except that in Zurich people speak Swiss German, not Italian. I have nothing against Swiss German, but Italian was my language of choice. When I turned down UBILAB for March, I asked if it would be possible to begin in September instead. I figured that 8 months in Italy was enough and I was really interested in working at UBILAB - so why not try for the best of both worlds? They told me it was a possibility.

So... I called UBILAB today and asked if there was still a possibility of me working with them, and that if so, could I start earlier than September. Well, actually, could I start as soon as possible? In Switzerland, a work visa (which is definitely required) takes between 2 and 3 months to obtain - so I cannot possibly start at UBILAB before mid-May. However, it sounds like a serious possibility. Fortunately, UBILAB has proven to be much more reliable - so I expect more information soon. Cross your fingers for me.

Assuming that I'm able to start at UBILAB in late May, that still leaves me three months with no plans. I'd like to stay in Italy, travel and work on my Italian - but for how long? Travelling by myself is both expensive and lonely. Fortunately, I have some money available. We'll have to see. Meanwhile, I'd already planned an itinerary for next week. Venice, Bologna, Parma, Pisa, and Lucca. Perhaps I will extend my stay in some of these cities since I am no longer in any hurry to get to Rome.

Meanwhile, Siena is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is my last day of school. Tonight is the last hurrah - another night of pizza and wine with my friends. Now that I know so many Europeans, I have offers to visit them in their hometowns - offers that I cannot, especially now, refuse.

Logistical problems abound.

Shit happens.



Copyright 1997 by Bradley Edelman
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E-mail: Brad Edelman