lunaverse
6th November 2005, 01:42 AM
I had a very unsettling experience tonight. Six months ago, I wouldn't have batted an eye, but it's amazing what a little knowledge can do to change how a situation might affect you.
In my research on cults, I had somewhere heard about magazine sales cults that hire people, drop them off in a neighborhood in the morning, and come back to pick them up late at night. All day, the person has to sell magazines for very little pay.
Well tonight, a woman shows up at my doorstep selling magazines. Alarm bells went off, so I asked her a few questions. It turned out that yes, she'd been dropped off that morning. She would be picked up at 8pm. She was from Las Vegas (I'm in Seattle). She had two young children, ages 6 & 7. They were back at the hotel room. She worried about them a lot. Yes, someone watched them, watched all the kids. She got a lunch break, 1 hour every day. She acted like this benefit was the best thing that ever happened to her. If she didn't sell enough magazines today, she wouldn't be able to feed her kids. She wanted to start a day care once she earned enough money. The company gave her 45% of their profit. They were doing it to teach her life skills, of going door to door without making people mad at her. (This in fact is how initially she introduced herself!)
It was raining outside, really hard. I didn't know what to do! I'm not very good at thinking fast in social situations -- Otherwise I would have invited her in for tea, and kept her talking as long as I could.
As it was (aside from asking questions) all I could manage to say, in reference to her long hours, was "Isn't that illegal? What about minimum wage?" I knew it isn't illegal -- they probably have her set up as an independent contrator -- but I was making a pathetic attempt to reality-check with her.
I felt really bad for her, and wanted to buy a magazine just to help her (not because she was guilt-tripping me, but because I *knew* she was in a cult and that her kids probably WOULD go hungry!), but then I also didn't want to financially support such a dastardly institution.
I also knew I couldn't just say, "There are a million minimum wage jobs out there that would be so much better than this!" That would be so flippant, to simplify everything like that. I didn't know her, or her situation. I got the feeling that she had been pretty desparate to begin with when she joined up.
I did get the name of her company, "Unity Management". They use a point system, the more points she gets the better. An internet search turned up NOTHING. It could be a small business that takes advantage of people for money, or it could be a fund-raising arm of a more well-known religious cult. Many of them operate businesses under different names.
I'm really worried about this woman, though I know there's nothing I can do to help her now. I'm kicking myself for not inviting her in, and all the things I thought of later I could have said! I really wish I could at least find out more information about the organization.. :(
Luna
In my research on cults, I had somewhere heard about magazine sales cults that hire people, drop them off in a neighborhood in the morning, and come back to pick them up late at night. All day, the person has to sell magazines for very little pay.
Well tonight, a woman shows up at my doorstep selling magazines. Alarm bells went off, so I asked her a few questions. It turned out that yes, she'd been dropped off that morning. She would be picked up at 8pm. She was from Las Vegas (I'm in Seattle). She had two young children, ages 6 & 7. They were back at the hotel room. She worried about them a lot. Yes, someone watched them, watched all the kids. She got a lunch break, 1 hour every day. She acted like this benefit was the best thing that ever happened to her. If she didn't sell enough magazines today, she wouldn't be able to feed her kids. She wanted to start a day care once she earned enough money. The company gave her 45% of their profit. They were doing it to teach her life skills, of going door to door without making people mad at her. (This in fact is how initially she introduced herself!)
It was raining outside, really hard. I didn't know what to do! I'm not very good at thinking fast in social situations -- Otherwise I would have invited her in for tea, and kept her talking as long as I could.
As it was (aside from asking questions) all I could manage to say, in reference to her long hours, was "Isn't that illegal? What about minimum wage?" I knew it isn't illegal -- they probably have her set up as an independent contrator -- but I was making a pathetic attempt to reality-check with her.
I felt really bad for her, and wanted to buy a magazine just to help her (not because she was guilt-tripping me, but because I *knew* she was in a cult and that her kids probably WOULD go hungry!), but then I also didn't want to financially support such a dastardly institution.
I also knew I couldn't just say, "There are a million minimum wage jobs out there that would be so much better than this!" That would be so flippant, to simplify everything like that. I didn't know her, or her situation. I got the feeling that she had been pretty desparate to begin with when she joined up.
I did get the name of her company, "Unity Management". They use a point system, the more points she gets the better. An internet search turned up NOTHING. It could be a small business that takes advantage of people for money, or it could be a fund-raising arm of a more well-known religious cult. Many of them operate businesses under different names.
I'm really worried about this woman, though I know there's nothing I can do to help her now. I'm kicking myself for not inviting her in, and all the things I thought of later I could have said! I really wish I could at least find out more information about the organization.. :(
Luna