Oh Peon 1: You suck

She's out of her head
If she thinks that instead
Of a leader -- a friend:
It's me she should dread

KEP, CAMBODIA

June 18, 2008

It was a pretty low-key day today. Not much doing, but TH and I managed to get in touch with our shared translator, have meeting with him and all, so that we'd be ready to start in the field by Thursday. Which is AWESOME news.

However...the real story was the email that I got from Peon 1. Oh it was good. I'd thought about posting it in all its glory, but that seemed tacky...so in a slightly less tacky move, I'll just paraphrase.

***

Dear Sarah,

Thanks for the advice on bringing a hoodie, I think I will too. But I'm a little confused as to long sleeves. What do you think should be the appropriate short-sleeve to long-sleeve shirt ratio?

As for shoes, are you bringing anything other than rain boots? I will be carrying my boots, a pair of Nike running shoes, and two cheap pairs of flip flops. Do you think this is sufficient?

As for underwear, what do you think? Is two weeks worth enough?

...

***

And it goes on and on and on and on. About how much money she should bring for Thailand (uh...we're in Cambodia), and how much money the research will cost (I'd already told her that everything was up in the air because we hadn't figured it all out yet), and on and on.

Anyways...I composed a bit of a cheeky reply, maybe too cheeky, but I thought I'd open with a joke to get her to relax. She's coming out here in a week, and she's already freaking out.

***

Dear Peon 1:

My dad always said that you could wear underwear twice -- by turning it inside out.

Seriously though, I can't tell you how much clothes to bring; I've already advised you on what to bring, but you have to figure out what you're comfortable with -- I can't make your decisions for you.

As for Thailand, I really have no idea how much traveling there will cost. I've never been.

Just bring the $600 USD that Rebecca already told us we should bring. You can get more money if you need to from an ATM later.

Sarah

***

Next day I get the best response from her ever.

***

Hello.

I can't believe you're not taking me seriously. I don't have internet access at home and I have to go all the way to my mom's work to get email and I don't appreciate that you don't care that I am adequately prepared to go to Cambodia and work on your project.

...(dot dot dot, rant rant rant)...

I don't need to remind you that you are not paying me and you are not my boss. I don't think it's too much to ask for the research costs or the amount that I need to bring. I wish you would take me seriously.

Peon

***

Not even in Cambodia yet and driving me NUTS. Anyways, my final response was basically an email telling her to chill out because that's how things are going to be when she gets here. The reality is that half the time we don't know what the hell is going on and plans constantly get messed up and you really can't plan for anything. I know there's this school of thought that says that you should always be as prepared as possible but I'm pretty sure that that doesn't apply here because, well, you'd never have enough time to prepare for everything, and things go wrong anyways and the planning just ends up being a waste of time. So, it's just a matter of being flexible.

Anyways...people around here are super excited to meet her.