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To help those moving and to fulfill my requirement per "East Ender" 😉 here is our moving week story....
We traveled from St. Croix via Mia-SJU-STX. It was 2 adults, 2 kids (well ok our son is 7 going on 8 and our daughter is 12 going on 30…so maybe I should say 3 adults and one kid so we don’t get a look from ms. attitude) and our 3 dogs..Chihuahuas. The flight was leaving Mia at 9:50 so we got there at 7. We pretty much breezed through the lines. We read the TSA guidelines very well and made sure we had no contraband so that made everything go quickly. At the security checkpoint, while we waited in line we had our shoes unlaced, laptops out and dogs out of their kennels and in our hands waiting…sailed through there. We went to our gate and waited until boarding. Landed at SJU at 12:30 and had to Ruuuun to our next gate which of course was the very last gate in the concourse to board for STX which started boarding at 12:45. If you’ve never seen a 7 year old running with a dog kennel and a wii fit box..it’s a funny site…I’m sure all of us looked like we had just robbed a pet and electronic store as fast as we all were running. But we made it!
We landed at STX about 40 minutes later and we went straight to the free Cruzan Rum sample stand and got a drink….nice! Unfortunately our luggage liked SJU so much it decided to stay and caught a later flight. So we went to Chris’ brothers house for a bit, stopped by a few places and had MORE “samples” by now I’m forgetting that our luggage was lost and loving Cruzan Rum even more. We went back to the airport a couple hours later and our luggage was just sitting there….yep just sitting there, so we picked it up and left.
Driving here isn’t as bad as I expected it came to me naturally, as for Chris who grew up here…even though he’s been gone since he graduated in 85 and only visited a few times…seemed to remember every curve, back road, and shortcut.
The next day I started my adventure of getting my stuff together for my job…I had to get a health card, and go to the dept of labor…One thing you learn here in the island is patience! Patience Patience Patience…The health card experience was a first, which unfortunately I have to repeat next year. Yes, I’m talking about…The sample! Those coming here that have to get a health card PM and I’ll tell you how I did it. I can’t believe some people were sitting in there with a kmart bag with their “sample” being visible for the entire world!!!! Sample test…$20 dollars sitting next to a woman with a kmart bag with her sample in it…priceless. We returned to the lab in sunny isle 2 days later to pick up the results, then headed over to the Health department to get the health card….the wait wasn’t too long…seemed like everyone knew Chris and it all went smoothly…$30 dollars
Dept of Labor…now that started off as a bad experience. We sat there for 3 hours watched people come and go and we were still there. They attach your driver’s license to your application and stick it in a box and that is how the order is determined…but somehow an application with a Florida driver’s license of a blonde hair green eyed woman kept getting pushed to the back of the pile. Chris finally stepped in and talked to the supervisor who turned out to be an old classmates brother and everything went smoothly from there on…sad to say but it seems that connections is the thing here and who you know.
Mailing stuff here….did you know you can get flat rate boxes mailed to you for free? http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductCategoryDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=13359&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=11820&top_category=11820...it cost $12.80 to mail a flat rate box, no weight limit…the box just has to maintain it’s shape. It took less than a week for us to receive it.
I could write a lot more but this is getting long so I’ll kill it there… just remember those moving here…It’s a great island…we’re never moving…Patience is the key and a smile goes a long way!
Melissa
Posted : June 19, 2008 12:41 pm
Awesome story! It was great to finally talk with you last night! I KNOW that we have more stories to share. See you soon.
Barb
Posted : June 19, 2008 12:45 pm
Great story!
The only thing I would add is that in addition to a smile and patience it is VITAL that you say 'Good Morning', 'Good Afternoon', or 'Good Night' at the appropriate times of the day when you enter a place. It seems like such a small thing but I've experimented and it consistently makes a difference as to whether you will be treated courteously and ON TIME.
A co-worker of mine who is here on temporary assignment described how rude she found people to be in stores. I asked her whether she used these greetings and while she knew about it she didn't. She felt that because she said 'hello' or something similar it should suffice. People need to understand this is a different country and culture and you MUST respect local customs. When I do this I've been ASTOUNDED by the number of times people at places like Innovative, FirstBank, Ford dealer, and even at work will go out of their way to help you. I feel like I've found a secret to great customer service that simply doesn't exist in the mainland.
Posted : June 19, 2008 1:22 pm
So true about the Good morning thing. We went to Carambola to show some friends the beach and just to hang out. We've done it a million times with no problem. This particular day there was a guard in the hut, my husband did not say good morning, and things went downhill from there. He said we had to park in a different spot, which we had never done before and walk a long way. We ended up just leaving. So you have to say the proper greeting.
Posted : June 19, 2008 1:34 pm
LOL, maybe on STX. I was always good about the greetings but it didn't always help. Sometimes customer service is just bad...I did have some really great experiences but unfortunately the bad ones were a little more frequent. I'm glad you got settled in ok. I've heard the stories about the "poo" bags before. Thankfully I didn't need a health card when I was there.
Posted : June 19, 2008 2:50 pm
STX is very much like a small town. It's very often who you know and/or how you behave. And I've found people especially polite to women of a certain age -- black or white.
Posted : June 19, 2008 9:39 pm
Topic starter
Very true about the greetings when you enter an office, building etc etc
Posted : June 20, 2008 3:06 pm
Strange how something so small can be so important. Thanks for the tips everyone, and I enjoyed your story Yearasta 😀
Posted : June 21, 2008 2:02 am
I have to agree with Linda J. I am 50 and get treated with the upmost respect. I always great with good morning, afternoon, night, and teach my 4 year old son to do the same. A little manners and respect of local custom goes a long way.
Posted : June 21, 2008 2:13 am
This whole thread just made me SMILE!
Yearasta...love the tale of your travels...(how do they figure out how to ALWAYS make that terminal 18 miles away??)
Poo bags...I have to "doo" it too. (sorry)
The greetings are so very true, even if you sometimes don't get a response, think of it as practice or maybe they're having "stress".
And finally, the 'certain age' thing is right on the money! My mother is a teeny-tiny little white lady (been here well over 40+yrs.) and recently needed crutches. In the post office, they hollered out her name to "come here dah-ling", no matter how much she blushed! Nobody thinks anything of this sort of treatment, so if you're in line for a very long time and they call someone of that 'certain age' up past you, smile because it could be your mother, etc. (She bought flowers for them too!They hold her in their hearts as she does them.)
These are just a few of the many beauties you will be in for here!:-)
Posted : June 22, 2008 8:50 am
Topic starter
Thanks Sunshinecruzan...it was great meeting you too!
Posted : June 23, 2008 10:06 pm
Likewise! Come on back soon! How are things so far? Did you do OK with last night's storm?
Give me a shout when you settle in and please feel free to ask away any questions, etc. you may have.
😀
Posted : June 25, 2008 8:14 am
Topic starter
The storm was no problem, the first few clap of thunder woke me up...but the we lost power for a couple hours. I fell back asleep but it was too hot for Chris to sleep with no fans. Time to find battery powered fans 🙂
I start work today:@)...
We'll be stopping in to see you again though...seems like a great place to eat, drink and hang out!
Posted : June 25, 2008 11:15 am
