I asked her how many people lived in her room on the ship. Puzzled she told me there were three others. I asked if she had to sleep on the floor. She laughed and said no, they all had beds. I asked her if she had enough clean clothes and she told me the staff had access to the washer and dryers and they were given clean linens every week.
Then I asked her what the food was like on the ship. She finally smiled and admitted it was always fresh, tasty and ample. I joking said “and they don’t make you cook it over an open fire?” She not only laughed and shook her head no, but her entire demeanor changed. She relaxed and became animated when answering a few more questions.
I asked her when her next 10-day break was and she said she had one more cruise after the one we were on. There were 24 people who rotated through a one bedroom apartment in Miami so they could keep the costs down.
I asked her if she would be willing to spend the majority of the ten days in the library reading about different types of jobs to determine one that might appeal to her. She didn’t hesitate to agree. I told her that once she decided on the job she should approach business owners and volunteer to work for them for free. She was surprised by the request, but she agreed to do so.