The surfboard

During the last couple of days of the training, I was becoming increasingly alarmed about my surfboard. At nine feet long it is difficult to transport, and the town that I was moving to was about an hour away from Taipei. Though the people at Hess had reassured me that they would help me take it down to Luodong, I had the strangest feeling that it wasn't going to happen.
So, for the last 3 days of training, I asked several people about my surfboard- never getting a straight answer from anyone but being reassured over and over again. I asked about the mini-bus that would take me to the branch, and they told me I would not take a mini bus but would be on the train. Well...were you allowed to put a long surfboard on the train? I doubted it, but I was willing to try.

All I wanted was a straight answer, and they got annoyed at me for asking questions.

Was it Hess's responsibility to transport my surfboard? Absolutely not.

To be honest, when I had first asked them if they could help me with my surfboard, and they said yes, I kind of felt like I was getting away with something. I figured they would tell me to transport my own damn surfboard. But when they said yes, I figured that maybe they said yes because it would be easy. Maybe they had vans going back and forth between branches all the time. I was just relieved that they said they would help me.
I think this is just Hess's MO with new recruits- “Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah! Sure sure sure! Of course! Whatever you want! Just get your ass to Taipei!”

The morning of our departure from the hotel, I lugged my nine foot board downstairs and waited for our ride to the train station.

“If my board doesn't go,” I remarked to one of the trainers, “I don't go.”

The trainer just rolled his eyes and looked at me like I was incredibly immature- which sure maybe an obsession with surfing CAN be seen as immature- that's fine, he's entitled to his opinions- but if I was repeatedly reassured that I would arrive in Luodong WITH my surfboard, was it immature to believe what they told me?

(besides if you're a surfer, you understand my fear- you don't just want any brute who knows nothing about a surfboard lugging it around. They could bang it against something which could cause a ding which I wasn't sure if I could even fix in Taiwan...seriously if you're a surfer you understand.)

Taxi after taxi rolled up to the hotel entrance and took group after group of happy trainees away. My turn came and you guessed it----- just a regular taxi, incapable of taking my surfboard.

Why the fuck didn't they just TELL me they weren't planning to take it? Then at least I could have attempted, through a translator, to make my own arrangements!!!!

I didn't make good on my promise- I left my surfboard in the care of the hotel and was assured that they would hold it for me at Hess main office. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I still get mad thinking about it 10 months later.

I tried to shake it off on the train ride so I would be in a good mood when I met my new co-workers. But the foundation was laid. Obnoxious information over load training, changing my schedule with out telling me before I arrived, and lying to me about my surfboard. I seriously hated Hess.