All seemed too good to be true.  2010 and the job offer Francy had been waiting for came through.  We were both suspicious because in a country where unemployment is ridiculous and those who do work aren’t offered a contratto a tempo indeterminato*. Despite this, we attempted to remain positive and hopeful.  What have we discovered?

1.  2 bosses-one is powerless as he doesn’t hold the majority of the company and the other is shagging the secretary.  I enjoyed the story when the 2nd boss pointed out that Francy needed to address him as “sir” and then when no one thinks you’re looking the secretary sticks her tongue out flirtatiously at said boss.

2.  A company which makes hearing aids where the majority of the people other than the technicians DON’T know the laws and safety codes of the business.

3.  Telling Francy to do something illegal…what you ask?  A form which lists the numbers for a safety test which must be routinely performed and Francy was instructed to simply copy last year’s form.

Which is why THANK GOD I’m so happy I married a man of high moral standard.  If he grows his beard out he looks like a bad ass, but honestly, he’s too pretty and too sweet for the joint.

The part that sucks about all of this is the fact that here in Italy, or my crazy sister would say “what do you care? it’s a job, just do it”. As lucky as I am in having married Francy, I married a guy with the same s*** luck as me.

We’ll see.  He’s going in today to basically tell them that he’s NOT quitting (firing someone with a contratto tempo indeterminato isn’t easy) and they have a week to decide to do things the legal way.  Strange, it’s not going to work.  Clearly a company who has been doing things illegally for years in a country where 80-95% of all crimes go unpunished won’t feel threatened.  I told Francy that with the exception of not using vulgar language (there has to be a polite way to let the secretary know she’s a stank whore) he was in no way obligated to be a gentleman.

Vediamo.

*contratto a tempo indeterminato-it’s a long and complicated explanation, but it essentially means you are hired by a company full-time with all the benefits of a job.  This also means the company pays all the taxes associated with employing someone.  Most companies here don’t want to do this.