Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 95 Respect is not looking down on others or giving alms
"Fifty dollars plus a thirty-dollar Target supermarket coupon." A man put on his slightly dirty Target discount supermarket chain delivery worker uniform and threw out a few bills and three discount coupons from his wallet.
Susan Curtis buttoned up her bra and said unhappily, "Hey! We agreed on eighty dollars, all in cash!"
"Baby, that's because of the 'Pleasure Seekers' ad and when I called you to ask about it, you said you had a big F-level number, but you actually only had a C. The service I encountered when I consumed was discounted, so I should enjoy the same discount when I pay." The man turned his head and said coldly to the woman who had just hugged him intimately.
Seeing Susan's angry expression as she was about to rush over, the man shook his huge fist and smiled grimly: "Baby, there is more than one place on my body that is hard enough."
"You are a bad guest." Susan finally didn't have the courage to argue with the other party. She just walked over, opened the door coldly, and complained.
The man grinned and walked out the door. "Your lousy breasts are only worthy of a lousy customer like me. See you next time."
After the door was closed again, the 24-year-old Susan lay back on her bed with a numb face, fumbled for the cigarette box next to her, lit a cigarette and put it in her mouth, rolled her eyes and looked out the window.
Only at sunset could light briefly shine through the windows of this shabby apartment, making her look a little warmer and more desolate.
The phone on the bedside table rang again. She held a cigarette in her left hand and picked up the receiver with her right hand. Although her face was still cold and numb, she said in a sweet voice: "Baby, do you want to have some fun?"
There was laughter from a few young men on the other end of the phone. It was obvious that they were just a group of bored young people, not customers who were ready to patronize her. Susan hung up the phone directly, and the room fell silent again.
After enjoying a moment of silence, Susan threw away her cigarette butt and picked up the "Fun Seeker" magazine next to her, ready to see if any other sisters in the same industry had thought of a more attractive slogan, and she would copy it.
Susan flipped through the thirty pages of "The Pleasure Seekers" one by one. By the tenth page, tears had covered her numb face. She would cry every time she read the magazine, and she didn't know why. Maybe it was because she found that on just one page there were dozens of women with the same fate as her, with their phone numbers logged out. They were lying on the bed in despair like her, waiting for the next customer.
Thirty pages, plus the number of people working in the entertainment company, that’s thousands of women, displayed on the shelves in the magazine like discounted merchandise, waiting for customers to choose.
Soon, she turned to the last page of the magazine and saw an advertisement that was so out of place with the other advertisements that Susan didn't even know if it was an advertisement:
"Here we provide free computer technology training, free job recommendations, and we will teach you how to gain a foothold in this world with skills other than your body. If you are not completely disappointed with this world, please give us a chance to help you. This is the Stanford Women's Equality Association. Give us a call. We are willing to listen."
Below that is a row of phone numbers.
Susan lived in San Jose, only 40 kilometers away from Stanford University in Palo Alto, so of course she knew the name of the university.
His father, who had disappeared from his life for many years, once angrily cursed Stanford University for causing them to lose their jobs.
Many years ago, Palo Alto was the largest food machinery and military weapons production base on the West Coast, with tens of thousands of workers making a living from it. But with the end of the war and the development of the times, various factories built during World War II were closed. Then Stanford University bought the land and renamed it Stanford Industrial Park. Those unemployed workers always thought that Stanford would open a factory in this industrial park, but in the end only various physics and high-tech companies were established in the park. Not to mention starting work, even the security guards who helped to guard the industrial zone required a high school education.
Susan has a high school diploma, but she has no job and no place to live. This apartment belongs to a friend of hers, who kindly provides her with an apartment and takes 30% of every business she sells.
"Please give us a chance to help you, Stanford." As Susan recited the slogan, a mocking expression finally appeared on her numb face. However, she picked up the phone inexplicably. She wanted to call Stanford as a pastime, just like those young men called to tease her.
…
Tommy looked sternly as he glanced at the girls in front of him, including Renee, who were answering the phone. He finally looked at the person in charge, Gary Goode, and slowly walked up to him, staring at him. "I don't understand why each of these people you found had such a hypocritical tone after answering the phone! Even those women who have been tortured and destroyed by fucked-up lives don't need to question you. When I hear that tone, I think you are damn liars!"
Renee subconsciously covered her mouth. It was the first time that Tommy used such vulgar words in front of her, and there were several girls around. You know, they were all members of the Women's Equality Promotion Association.
Gary was startled by Tommy's tone and didn't come back to his senses. Instead, a girl next to him spoke to Tommy in dissatisfaction:
"Hey, you better watch your tone, we..."
"I need to watch my tone? I need to watch my tone? You guys need to watch your tone!" Tommy interrupted the girl and pointed at several phones not far away with a fierce look on his face:
"What are you worried about? What are you being hypocritical about! Are you really going to deceive them? No! You are obviously going to save them! Why do you sound like you are going to drag them into the fire pit?"
The girl lowered her head due to Tommy's sharp eyes, but her companion immediately summoned up the courage to speak and explained to Tommy:
"We just don't want to hurt their self-esteem when communicating, so we have to think of more appropriate words to avoid..."
"They have been tortured by this world to the point where they have no self-esteem. They don't need politeness or courtesy. They called to verify whether this world still has a little hope and opportunity to change their fate! Only after they know this, will they give us the most precious thing in her, which is her little remaining trust!" Tommy turned his head and looked at the other party:
"Do you really understand equality? Do you understand respect? You know shit! Your tone is the greatest disrespect to the woman on the other end of the phone! Three calls! Three calls! You wasted three chances! Those three women had the chance to change their fate, but because of your shitty tone, they will continue to sink. It's your fault~, screw your Equality Promotion Association, a group of stupid college students who just had enough food and founded it, a playful organization that only knows how to shout slogans! I used the money to buy computers to help those women, not to help you people add a shiny resume to your resume!"
"Tommy, calm down." Renee nervously reminded , because two girls were so scared by Tommy's rude curses that they burst into tears.
"Wipe your tears and listen carefully. Let Tommy Hawke from the country teach you rich girls how to deal with such scarred women. That is to treat them equally, not look down on them." Tommy lowered his head, lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and then walked to the phone:
"If I fail, feel free to complain to me, but if I succeed, you better fucking do what I say, or I'll complain to the Promotion Association that you guys just want to gild yourselves hypocritically and don't want to fucking save those poor women!"
Soon, the phone rang. Tommy answered the phone with anger still in his tone: "Stanford University Women's Equality Association Computer Training Classroom, this is Tommy Hawke."
"I saw a strange ad on the Fun Seeker, offering free computer training? That's an April Fool's joke by college students, right?" the woman on the other side asked, "You should know that no normal person would see that ad, so the people at Stanford are crazy?"
Tommy Hawke took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke into the receiver. "Listen, ma'am, you're not the first person to doubt. I'm exhausted dealing with skeptics like you, so allow me to smoke a cigarette to ease my mood and make it short. I won't ask you your name, but I need to ask you two other questions, and if your phone has a recording function, you can start recording now."
“I’m listening,” the woman said.
Tommy said directly, "How much do customers pay you for a business?"
As soon as this question was asked, the other people present instantly showed expressions of horror.
"Fifty dollars." The woman was silent for two seconds. To everyone's shock, she actually laughed at herself and answered Tommy's question: "And a thirty-dollar discount coupon."
Tommy flicked the ash off his cigarette. "You can pay with a coupon? That customer sounds like an asshole, but I'm worse. You know, I'm sitting here answering the phone part-time, answering dozens of calls an hour and only making four dollars. But there is also a good point, that is, I sit in the office and only need to explain the problem to suspicious ladies like you, without having to take off my clothes to deal with those difficult customers, and I don't have to worry about the police coming to my door. What's more, I know computers, and after graduation I can find a decent job in those big companies. Of course, don't lose heart, ma'am, you can do it too, so my second question is, do you know where Stanford University is?"
"Yes."
"Very good, let me say it again. We provide free computer training here, and free job recommendations after graduation. The location is in a classroom on the Stanford University campus. You can come directly and verify it yourself. If it turns out that this stupid promotion association spent money on advertising just to make fun of you women, just hand over the phone recording to the police. They will send me and the people from the promotion association to where we should go, and then find a lawyer who is willing to make money to sue Stanford University and claim a huge sum of money that is enough for you to live on for the rest of your life. Don't be soft-hearted, Stanford University is very rich." Tommy said in a vulgar tone: "And I guarantee that there will definitely be lawyers who are willing to help you do this without charging consulting fees, just to share that huge sum of money with you."
After hearing what Tommy said, the woman laughed happily. "You mean I can take classes in a Stanford University classroom for free? If it's not free, or if they cheat me, I can still sue Stanford University? You're quite interesting. There are very few people who answer the phone as interesting as you."
Renee blinked not far away. When she first met Tommy, she also said that Tommy was very funny, but Tommy at that time was definitely not like he is now. He looked like... like a middle-aged drunkard after having two drinks in a sleazy bar.
"Yes, Stanford's money is not mine anyway, and I would be very happy to have the chance to see it in trouble. So ma'am, please come to Stanford University by yourself. I don't have time to explain too much to you. People are curious about the word free. I have to explain it dozens or hundreds of times a day. I guess if you have so many guests a day, you won't be able to keep a good temper. Do you have any other questions? I'm going to hang up." Tommy said with a bit of impatience, ready to end the call.
The woman thought for a moment and said, "I don't have a car. If I take the bus, do you have someone to greet me at the school gate? I heard that Stanford University has a very large campus."
"Of course, we have set up a reception desk at the school gate, but you have to tell me your name so that I can help you register." Tommy picked up the pen on the table and said.
The woman didn't hesitate and said directly: "Susan Curtis."
"Okay, I've registered you, Miss Susan Curtis. See you tomorrow." Tommy said a perfunctory goodbye and hung up the phone. Then he held up the paper with the other party's name on it and walked up to the women.
"This name may be a fake one, and she may not come tomorrow, but at least she is willing to listen to me, and at least she has the urge to come and see it, so she asked if there is a reception desk at the school gate. Your concerns will only make them worry that you are going to cheat them out of their money. So, remember this clearly, respect is not looking down on them or giving them charity. Respect is very simple, look them in the eye."
