{"product_id":"2940152110678","title":"Domestically Yours: A Caregiver's Inspiring Journey","description":"\u003cp\u003eLuckily, I stumbled upon a newspaper ad where a company was looking for a secretary. I phoned and asked if I could drop off my resume. Since it was close to my parents’ place, I brought my daughters along, dropped off my application and then went to my parents for a visit. As soon as we were about to go home, I received a call. The woman told me that the manager was calling me in for an interview the next day. My family, kids and I were as excited as we could imagine. The next morning I asked my mother to look after my children while I went to my interview. When I arrived to the address that the lady gave me, I was surprised to find myself in a residential area with old Spanish vintage houses. They stood around me with their beautifully designed eight-foot high gates with crafted loops on top surrounded by seven-foot high white-coated 2x2 foot large brick walls. These houses were like the ones I saw in the movies where the gang leader lived! Oh my God, it was so creepy. At that point I thought I misunderstood the address, so I thought I might as well ask if I had the right place. As I approached the gate, a shiny black 1987 Bluebird tinted car gave a quick honk at the gate and a security guard opened it. When the car drove past, I peaked inside and saw a long driveway with a cream painted veranda and big mahogany doors, thick and etched nicely but I could not figure out what design was on there.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll of a sudden the back window rolled down and the man in his 30s said, “You must be Annie, come on in!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was stunned and said, “Yes.” I followed the car and the security man stopped me to sign in and leave my identification. I deliberately handed it to him and signed the visitor’s book. I saw a lot of names listed as I quickly browsed the logbook. He must have taken many interviews beforehand, but I was the first on that day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI looked at the guard and asked, “Who was that man?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe said, “He is Mr. Tamara, the owner of this company. What is your purpose here? Would you please indicate on the reason column.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI replied, “Ah I see, so I’m not lost then. I have an interview with him.” I signed and he guided me to the front door. Once inside, I was surprised to see rows of tables and chairs of the same colour and style, and people were doing different things at each table. I recall seeing approximately 20 people and everyone was busy. I quickly scanned the area and saw one person on the phone, others talking to the person next to him, one was heading to a white coloured photocopy machine in the corner, and some were working away.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs we walked pass them, we went through a sliding door and the guard asked me to wait on one of the small couches. Then he approached a lady with a short bob hair cut with a portion of her bangs teased up that you see in the 80s. She was wearing a solid pink blouse and navy blue slacks, he spoke to her, gave me a grin and left.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe looked at me and said, “You may come in now for your interview.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI stood up and composed myself. “Thank you, Miss.” I went in and saw the same man from the car sitting in his chair with his arms leaning on the largest table I have seen in my life. His head was bowed over my application. I did not wait for him to greet me, instead I said “Hello, Sir. I’m Annie”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Annie Chua","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47081010200816,"sku":"2940152110678","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940152110678_p0.jpg?v=1764019273","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940152110678","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}