by Atrocious Hogwash
Aaron
always had an affinity for the finer stuff. After finishing school and waiting
for his SPM results, he had applied to work at a luxury boutique. It was a
boutique that would sell 150 ringgit for a crummy t-shirt and people would
still consider it worthwhile. The place was called Massimmo Dutti and even in
name the boutique struck into inner wallets of most people. Being posh, the pay
amounted up to six ringgit an hour for a part-timer, which by Aaron’s count,
should net him around 1240 ringgit per month. It was more money than Aaron has
ever had in life.
Nonetheless, money was never the only motivation
for Aaron to go to work. Working in a boutique itself provides its own set of
attractions. The shop, appearing very classy in its semblance and the jazzy
ambience, afforded the most delightful merchandise Aaron has ever laid eyes
upon. The shirts coupled with the suits will outright make you look
dapper and would fit you in any fancy ball or dinner. If you prefer a more
casual look, the shop also sports items such as leather jackets and snazzy
bermudas to let you stand out without even trying. Working as a retail
assistant meant working directly with the merchandise which was to Aaron's joy and delight.
Yet, the cream of the crop would have to be the shoes.
Not only are they marvelously elegant and smart, placing your foot in one is
like taking a walk in the clouds. The tags on the shoes read ‘Destined
for The Feet of Men’ and Aaron could not agree more. He had his eye on one
of the shoes, a classic loafer that proved ever so popular among the
rich. Aaron had the chance to put it on whilst at the storeroom. He grabbed it
and slid it onto his foot and so the heavens descended. He had never walked so
comfortably before in his life. One look at the price tag and it showed the
astronomical price ‘RM 1200’, almost all of his salary, but he was determined
to own a pair.
It was the nearing the final days of the first month
in his job, and boy, was he excited to run over to the nearest ATM to check
those balances. He could already picture those loafers on his feet as he ambled
gleefully with every step. Nevertheless, As soon as he managed
to access an ATM, there he was, pensive. To his surprise, the screen only
displayed fourteen ringgit and seventeen cents, the same amount of money he has
had ever since. His manager mentioned that the salary had been deposited today
but Aaron’s was clearly not. Where was his pay?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The days after were the weekends, terrible days to
work. Aaron never thought he had to work on the weekends. Working 5 days a week
was the plan, but unmindful to Aaron, those 5 days could be any day of the
week. Ironically, it was obviously the weekends where Aaron was needed the
most. But working on weekends was still tolerable, working unpaid was something
else. Aaron had mulled over the injustice he had suffered. He opted not to
confront the manager just yet because he hated confrontations and he thought it
was still too premature to cause a commotion, even if it is badly needed. Maybe
a few more days of slave labor will justify his cause even more.
Nevertheless, he could not stop ruminating over his
current state. What did he do to suffer such injustice? He caught glimpses of
his workmates and they were all smiles. He hated them because of it. Aaron
knew obviously that they were part of this oppression. "Bully
the new guy" resonated in all of their smiles. He could not believe he had
to deal with people such as these.
At one time, he managed to escape for a prayer break.
During the prayer, a revelation came upon him that maybe his employers were
holding back his wages because he was here, right now, praying. Did
they have anything against devout Muslims? He remembered reading on Facebook
about companies that discriminate tudung-clad girls from their
workforce. Could this be what Facebook was talking about? Discrimination
against Muslims? At the end of the prayer, he asked God to relieve him of this
calamity and injustice. He hoped for the best in this endeavor.
_________________________________________________________________________
The weekends plodded over as
Aaron slogged his way through. Then came Monday, and it was the day that Aaron
will make his thoughts clear. He had prepared himself for this and was ready to
declare an ultimatum or even tender his resignation immediately if he had to.
The injustice must stop here! Thus, he marched up to his manager with a
disgruntled face.
“Where the hell is my pay?” Aaron
screamed, echoing the whole shop.
The manager was stupefied. The
small little Aaron made a spectacle quite unlike anything he has ever seen in
his 8 years of working in the clothing line.
The manager was a gentle man. Screamed into
shock by an angry teenager, he stuttered with his response,
“I… deposited the money last…
last… Friday,” He stammered.
“It takes… three working days… to
clear… so it… shh… should be in… by next Wednesday,”
Aaron was quite astounded that he
could scare the wits out of the manager, a full grown man, but he was more
perplexed with the "three working days" thingamajig. How do you
expect a young man like himself to ever know about the three day clearance
system? They should have explained to him sooner! Now he is all embarrassed
about it.
_________________________________________________________________________
Not long after the incident, Aaron resigned from his
post at Massimo Dutti. People would say he resigned because he was mortified by
the incident, but no, that was not it. Firstly, it was not his fault to begin
with. Had they told him sooner about the whole procedure, the incident would
not have happened at all. However, more importantly, after the ridiculous three
working days have passed, he checked his accounts straight away, and the
manager had it right, his pay was already in alright, but it was a paltry 800
ringgit, a far cry from the 1240 ringgit he had estimated.
It turns out, there were days when Aaron came late
that subtracted his hourly pay and he also forgot about the Employee Provident
Fund (EPF) that would deduct a percentage of his salary for his retirement. His
retirement! How old do they think he is? Eighty? He is eighteen and could do with
the money they stole from him! Aaron had enough. He felt that 800 ringgit was
not worth his youth, especially in the clothing line, and thus decided to quit.
That will show them.
With a few months left before college intakes were
announced, Aaron had a lot of gaming to catch up on. He turned on his
Playstation 4, and sat on the floor in front of his LCD television. But behind
him, right under his bed, lay something suspicious. Upon closer look, it seemed
brown and made of supple leather. It hid well beneath the pile of clothes under
the bed, concealed from the world. As said, Aaron always had an affinity for
the finer stuff.
THE END
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